The Ukrainian military is plagued with abuse and corruption, with some units dominated by neo-Nazis or foreign drug cartel members, a former Dutch mercenary who fought for Kiev has said.
The retired air force serviceman, who goes by the alias Hendrik, admitted he became disillusioned with Kiev’s cause after traveling to Ukraine on three occasions to fight Russia. “It’s a corrupt gang there,” he told De Telegraaf newspaper in an interview published on Saturday.
At some point, Hendrik ended up with the Third Separate Assault Brigade – a successor to the infamous neo-Nazi Azov Regiment. An officer within the brigade assured the Dutchman that the unit had severed its links to neo-Nazis, which turned out to be a lie, according to Hendrik.
He said he saw Nazi symbols, swastikas, and flags with Stepan Bandera – the leader of a Ukrainian nationalist movement that collaborated with the Nazis during World War II – at one of the brigade’s HQs.
“I didn’t want anything to do with this whole thing anymore,” Hendrik said, adding that other foreign fighters told him they had seen Ukrainian soldiers “giving the Nazi salute every morning.”
The Dutchman also said he “saw an invasion of Colombians to Ukraine.” Kiev was actively attracting Latin American fighters to fill up its army ranks, he said, with many of them being drug cartel members. The Latin Americans, who were allowed to build their own “state” within the Ukrainian army, were involved in some “chilling” war crimes, Hendrik stated, adding that he was shown photos of beheadings and heard about torture and mutilation, as well as horrific treatment of Russian POWs.
Moscow has repeatedly drawn attention to Kiev openly supporting neo-Nazis and maintained that Ukraine’s denazification should be a part of any peace settlement.
Media reports also suggested that Mexican drug cartels were getting weapons and training in Ukraine. Last year, the newspaper Milenio reported that one cartel had acquired advanced drone warfare skills by sending its members to fight for Kiev.