Ukraine Secretly Deployed Colombia's Deadliest Soldier

The Military Show

In Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian forces near Stepnohirsk eliminated an infiltrating Russian position with an unexpected force: highly trained Colombian foreign volunteers. Making up the largest foreign contingent in Ukraine—with up to 2,000 active fighters—these battle-tested veterans bring critical counterinsurgency skills to the front line. Discover why thousands of Colombian soldiers are joining Ukraine's ranks to take on Russian troops.  ⏱️ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Colombian Volunteers Defend Zaporizhzhia Against Russian Army 01:25 - Tactical Group Revanche Clears Russian Infiltrators in Stepnohirsk 02:45 - Ukrainian and Colombian Troops Capture Wounded Russian Paratrooper 04:00 - 7,000 Colombian Volunteers Join Ukraine Foreign Legion 05:25 - Ukraine Offers Colombian Veterans 10,000 Dollars Monthly Pay 06:50 - Why Colombian Veterans Fight in Ukraine Foreign Legion 08:15 - President Gustavo Petro Attempts to Stop Colombian Mercenaries 09:40 - ISW Proves Russian 7th Air Assault Division Failed 10:55 - Can Colombian Volunteers Help Ukraine Hold Zaporizhzhia?  Support us directly as we bring you independent, up-to-date reporting on military news and global conflicts by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheMilitaryShow/join  #militarystrategy #militarydevelopments #militaryanalysis #themilitaryshow  SOURCES: https://pastebin.com/BkyfUuZu

Transcript

00:00As Russia attempts to push deeper into Zaporizhia, it just ran into something it never expected.

00:05Not Ukrainian soldiers, not even drones. Colombians were waiting.

00:11Highly trained mercenaries who have honed their skills in the jungles of their homeland are in

00:15Ukraine. And they just did something amazing. Russians started dying, a position was liberated,

00:22but the real story here isn't just what happened in Zaporizhia, it's what's happening in Colombia.

00:27There are interesting reasons why so many soldiers from this country are heading into Ukraine.

00:32You're going to learn about them in this video. But first we head to Stepnohirsk.

00:37Throughout July, Russian paratroopers had slowly but surely started to infiltrate this small

00:42settlement. Having been pushed out once before by a brilliant and sweeping liberation strike,

00:47those Russian soldiers were desperately trying to grasp onto any territory they could,

00:51so their comrades could deliver the good news that Stepnohirsk was under control once more to Putin.

00:56The paratroopers were far from controlling the village, but infiltrators are dangerous,

01:01and this particular group had started to set up small positions in burned-out buildings and other

01:06hidey-holes, allowing them to direct fire at Ukrainian forces and set up ambushes to trap them.

01:11The infiltrators couldn't be allowed to continue, not just due to the damage they were capable of doing,

01:17but because Stepnohirsk is more important than it might seem.

01:19This isn't any old village. Stepnohirsk offers access to the E-105 highway,

01:24and with it, a possible route deeper into Zaporizhia. If Russia is able to take control

01:29of this village, it may be able to use it as a logistical hub and a launch pad for assaults

01:34across the Dnipro River and eventually Zaporizhia itself. Putin's infiltrators had a clear purpose.

01:41Ukraine needed to eliminate them. After considering all the options, Ukraine settled on using tactical

01:46group Revanche for the operation. A unit of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, this group has been

01:51active since the beginning of the war and is believed to be roughly the size of a regiment,

01:56meaning it has between 501 and 1,500 members. But what makes Revanche special is who becomes a member.

02:02Ukrainian soldiers aren't part of this tactical group. The members come from far and wide to join

02:07an international unit. Tactical group Revanche has already left its mark on the war. From the earliest

02:13days of the Russian invasion, the group was deployed to Kiev and played a key role in halting the initial

02:17Russian advance at the Battle of Hostomel. Later, the group liberated Rudinska in the Kiev Oblast,

02:22and it had also seen action in Kharkiv and Chaziv-Yar, in addition to fighting close to the Donetsk

02:28Fortress Belt. These soldiers are experienced, talented, and more than capable of taking on

02:33Russian infiltrators. Now, Colombian soldiers from tactical group Revanche are in Zaporizhia,

02:39and they just ruined the Russian infiltrators in Stepnohiersk.

02:43A July 28th telegram post by the group reveals all. After recognizing that Russian infiltrators

02:49had managed to penetrate into Stepnohiersk, tactical group Revanche took its time. The

02:54infiltrators weren't going anywhere. Their jobs were to find somewhere to hold up and then wait

02:59for supplies and reinforcements to arrive. Both were a long way from coming, so Revanche members

03:04took the opportunity to carry out extensive reconnaissance, taking advantage of every mistake

03:09the Russian occupiers made to perfectly pinpoint their positions. Once Revanche knew where the

03:13Russians were, the FPV drones were unleashed. Over and over, those drones smashed into the Russian

03:19position, making it clear to the paratroopers inside that they had been rumbled. Those paratroopers,

03:25already in a sticky situation, would have been confused when they started to hear Spanish on

03:29the battlefield. Revanche followed up the drone strikes with a ground assault led by Colombian soldiers.

03:34Before that assault, the Russian troops were given the option, surrender now or die in the fight.

03:39No response came back from the paratroops, so Ukraine's Colombian soldiers fired grenades into

03:44the bunkers and trenches where the Russian soldiers were hiding. The aftermath of one of the battles

03:49was caught on camera. We see Ukraine's foreign fighters enter a building, cautiously checking around

03:54for signs of paratroopers. One Russian soldier was eliminated in the fight, a second was captured.

03:59The operation was precise and lethally effective. It also turned out to be informative. We see from

04:06the footage that the captured soldier is already wounded. Wearing a bandage around his head, that

04:10soldier is trying to hide in what can best be described as an underground hovel. When he's found,

04:15he has his hands raised. The very first thing he says is, I feel really terrible. Do you have any

04:21water or something to drink? That right there exposes what Putin puts his soldiers through.

04:25There have been stories of a lack of supplies and water provided to infiltrators in the past.

04:30Back in May 2025, Russian soldiers in Kherson were even caught drinking from puddles after the

04:36complete collapse of their supply lines left them desperate enough to risk drinking dirty water rather

04:42than dying of dehydration. Now we see a clearly injured soldier in Stepnohirsk begging his captors for

04:48a drink. The paratrooper gets water along with a cigarette and he is then taken into custody by the

04:53Colombian and Ukrainian joint forces. There is also footage of the interrogation that followed.

04:58The captured paratrooper reveals everything about who he is and in doing so, exposes what Putin and

05:04his cronies are really looking for from a soldier. As a child, he ended up in an orphanage along with

05:10his brother after their mother snapped because she couldn't control them. That brother is also in the

05:15army fighting in the Kherson direction, the captured soldier reveals. The soldier revealed that before

05:20ending up in an orphanage, his father had let him drink vodka from an early age. Dad ended up in

05:26prison for

05:27assaulting a neighbor and nearly killing him. The soldier dropped out of school after seven years of

05:31education, meaning he didn't graduate. He was on his very first mission when he was captured in Stepnohirsk.

05:37And when asked about Putin, the soldier reveals what it's really like to be Russian. What's the point of voting

05:42anyway? Putin will always win. And when he and his cronies are in office, they look for people like

05:48this soldier. Poorly educated, broken homes, desperate for money. If there is a way to exploit,

05:54Russia's recruiters jump on it. And all of this was learned because Ukraine deployed a lethal

05:58contingent of Colombian soldiers into Stepnohirsk. That brings us to the second big story here, or should

06:04we say the big question? What on earth are Colombian soldiers doing fighting in the hellscape of the

06:09Ukrainian front lines? The answers are numerous, and you'll soon find out that it isn't a case of a

06:14handful of Colombian fighters heading into the country. There are thousands. But before we dig

06:18deeper into that, this is a reminder that you're watching the military show. If you're getting

06:22insight from our channel, then hit subscribe and enable notifications so you see more coverage like

06:27this. Colombia is far more important to Ukraine than you may realize. Though the two nations certainly

06:33aren't allied to the point where Colombia actively supports Ukraine in its battle against Russia,

06:37soldiers from that nation stream into Ukraine to fight alongside people with whom they feel they

06:42sense a certain level of kinship. The numbers reveal it. Bogota's city paper revealed in February

06:48that Colombians now make up the largest foreign contingent of soldiers that have entered Ukraine.

06:52Tactical group revanche is full of them, as are several other units that are fighting on the front.

06:57The outlet says that as many as 2,000 Colombian nationals are actively serving in Ukraine's ranks

07:02as we speak, and that up to 7,000 have served in total since Putin launched his invasion.

07:08Colombians make up about a quarter of all foreign soldiers that Ukraine recruits, the outlet points

07:13out. Soldiers from this single nation are also willing to die to support Ukraine. The Atlantic Council

07:19reports that an estimated 300 to 550 Colombian soldiers have perished on the front lines fighting

07:25for Ukraine's liberation. The big question still remains, why? This isn't just about the money,

07:30though the cash definitely helps. France 24 spoke to one soldier named Dairro who left Colombia's

07:37military after 8 years of service. The pay for his work back home is poor, Dairro says. As for Ukraine,

07:42the brigade pays for our air tickets, accommodation in Bogota, and does all the paperwork for us to

07:47travel legally, he says, adding, when I heard about this I jumped at the chance. It's what I've been

07:52waiting for. Indeed, the money isn't great for a Colombian soldier. Mid-level officers in the country's

07:57military earn roughly $1,000 per month while in active service. A rank-and-file soldier gets much

08:03less, just $400 per month. Military pensions in Colombia are also not enough to sustain former

08:09soldiers. Pay often drops by half, and the few programs that Colombia has in place to help its

08:14soldiers transition back into civilian life aren't fit for purpose. Most try to redirect former

08:19soldiers into private security work, but that sector is saturated. Job openings are rare, and when

08:24they appear, there is a literal army of former soldiers competing for the work. Compare this

08:28situation to what Ukraine offers. Beyond all of the initial benefits that Dairro mentions, those who

08:34sign up to fight in Ukraine are paid from the moment they begin training. That pay was about $490 for

08:39training that can last up to six weeks, which is already equivalent to a full-time wage for a Colombian

08:44soldier. But that's just the start. Salaries for soldiers who participate in combat operations for

08:50Ukraine range from $3,000 to $5,000 per month, well above the average mid-level officer wage in the

08:56Colombian military. Ukraine offers signing bonuses sometimes as high as $25,000, as well as a $350,000

09:04death benefit delivered to families when a soldier is killed in combat. In June, Ukraine also implemented

09:09a pay-as-you-fight system for its frontline forces. Now, soldiers who take part in active combat operations

09:15can earn over $10,000 per month, Business Insider reports. Not only is that almost 30 times the

09:21average salary in Ukraine, but it's also a level of pay that is far beyond anything that a Colombian

09:26soldier could ever expect to get from their own country. The money alone is compelling, but there's

09:31more to it than that. For many of the Colombians who are fighting in Ukraine, purpose is as important

09:36as cash. Dairro makes that very clear when speaking to France 24. We're doing it out of a vocation to

09:42serve, he tells the outlet. Plus, it's a noble cause to go and fight under a flag that is not

09:46our own,

09:47but that of a people that is under attack. It's a bit like if a neighbor broke into my house.

09:52That sentiment is far from rare among the thousands of Colombians who head to Ukraine,

09:56and it offers a hint toward how these soldiers feel in their own country. Lost, bereft of cause,

10:02and abandoned. Colombia had long been a nation that needed its soldiers, up until a 2016 peace

10:08settlement that left many who were in active service feeling as though their skills were going

10:12underused, along with them being underpaid. Colombian soldiers have taken to fighting in

10:16other countries, not just Ukraine, but also in Yemen and Sudan, because they feel they have spent

10:21a lifetime developing skills that go underutilized by their own nation. On top of that, it's the

10:26reintegration issue we touched on earlier. A Colombian soldier, who may have up to two decades of

10:31experience dealing with counterinsurgency operations in their own country, will be left out in

10:35the cold by their government once they retire from their service in their 30s or 40s.

10:39The civilian economy has no place for them, outside of the saturated private security sector.

10:44That sector accounts for over 1% of Colombia's entire gross domestic product,

10:49and it employs hundreds of thousands of people. But that's the entire point.

10:53As massive as private security may be in Colombia, the sector is full, jobs are rare,

10:58and the other reintegration programs that Colombia has in place are doing a poor job of helping

11:02the country's former soldiers find work. Colombia isn't happy about the whole situation.

11:07A slew of legal frameworks has been put in place in an attempt to stop former Colombian soldiers

11:12from becoming mercenaries for Ukraine or anyone else. Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, has even

11:18claimed that Colombians are treated as an inferior race by Ukraine soldiers and are deployed like

11:24cannon fodder. There seems to be no real evidence for this, as backed by the numbers, which show that no

11:29more than one-fourteenth of the Colombian troops that have entered Ukraine are killed in action.

11:33It's also worth noting that Putin himself has claimed that Petro could be a promising partner,

11:38suggesting that Colombia's president may have a motivation beyond the safety and well-being

11:43of his country's soldiers. Still, Colombia is trying to prevent its soldiers from heading to Ukraine.

11:48In December 2025, the country's House of Representatives even voted to ratify the United Nations

11:53Convention Against Mercenaries. That convention has existed since 1989, so it's strange that

11:59only now views what's happening as a problem. However, this law doesn't stop Ukraine from

12:03recruiting. Those who fight in Ukraine's International Legion or are part of Ukraine's

12:07regular assault units aren't classified as mercenaries under this very convention,

12:11the Atlantic Council points out. Ultimately, it seems that Petro misses the point.

12:16Colombia has thousands of soldiers who feel that their skills aren't being respected,

12:20they aren't receiving the compensation that they deserve, and that their country fails to

12:24reintegrate them into society once their service ends. So these soldiers find purpose in fighting

12:29for Ukraine, and Ukraine has been more than happy to facilitate the arrival of Colombians into its

12:34armed forces. It's notable that the first soldiers who joined Ukraine from Latin America did so of

12:39their own accord, France 24 notes. It was only after a half-Argentian, half-Ukrainian soldier that the

12:45outlet named Nazar helped to pioneer a scheme to bring more over that Ukraine actively started

12:50recruiting from the continent. Ukraine will argue that all it does is offer the opportunity. It's

12:55up to the soldiers themselves to make the choice. All of this brings us back to the remarkable assault

12:59Colombian soldiers carried out in Stepnohirsk, alongside their Ukrainian colleagues. The assault was

13:05fruitful. A capture was made, more information was gathered, and Russian infiltrators were forced out of the

13:10village. For Ukraine, this is a big win because it means that Russia is now further away from being able

13:15to make

13:16moves on the Zaporizhia targets they want to hit. However, Stepnohirsk still isn't safe. Far from it.

13:21This village has been subjected to fighting for much of the Ukraine war, and at one point,

13:25Russia managed to mostly occupy Stepnohirsk. That situation was reversed in May 2026, when Ukrainian

13:31forces carried out a brilliant operation to liberate Stepnohirsk from the Russian occupiers. A series of

13:36assaults pushed Russia's forces back, stabilizing the situation in the village for a time. Russia's

13:41positions collapsed as Ukraine conducted a search-and-destroy operation that involved

13:46using aerial reconnaissance and precision fire to pin Russian soldiers down, followed by checks

13:51inside buildings to kill or capture any soldiers that remained. This operation was much like what

13:56we saw Ukraine's Colombian soldiers do in July, only on a much larger scale. It's unknown whether

14:01Ukraine utilized any of its Colombian contingent in this stage of the operation. Still, Putin hasn't

14:06given up on Stepnohirsk. He can't. The village plays a critical role in his plans for the rest

14:11of Zaporizhia. Toward the end of May, Colonel Vladislav Voloshin, who is the spokesman for Ukraine's

14:16Southern Defense Forces, revealed that Putin has sent the 7th Air Assault Division in the Stepnohirsk

14:21direction with specific orders to claim the village by the end of June. It's likely those are soldiers

14:26from this division that Ukraine's Colombian troops captured or killed in July. As for taking

14:30Stepnohirsk by June, that obviously hasn't happened. Just another insane and unrealistic deadline

14:35created by Putin that he ought to know by now was never going to be reached.

14:40As for what's happening in Stepnohirsk right now, we just saw Russia is trying to sneak

14:45infiltrators into the village. However, Ukraine is watching and waiting for any chance to take

14:49those infiltrators out. And right now, it's not Russia that is advancing in Zaporizhia,

14:54it's Ukraine. That's according to the Institute for the Study of War or ISW. In its July 29 Russian

15:00Offensive Campaign Assessment, the ISW said,

15:03Ukrainian forces advanced in Western Zaporizhia Oblast on a prior date. Archival geo-located

15:09footage, published on July 20th and dated to June 2026, shows Ukrainian forces clearing Russian-occupied

15:15buildings in northeastern Stepnohirsk, west of Urekiv, indicating that Ukrainian forces previously

15:21advanced in the area. So it seems that Putin's forces are no closer to capturing Stepnohirsk than they

15:27were when Ukraine booted the bulk of those soldiers out in May. Only now, Putin's patsies

15:32have a bigger problem on their hands. Well-trained and deadly Colombian soldiers are working alongside

15:37Ukraine to keep the village clear. Russian soldiers are dying at the hands of an enemy

15:41they never saw coming. And the odds are that many hundreds, if not thousands more Colombian

15:46troops will soon find their way into Ukraine. We've given you some insight into the situation

15:50in Stepnohirsk right now. But what if you want to learn more about how Ukraine liberated the

15:54village in the first place? If that sounds like you, then we have you covered.

15:58We reported on the Stepnohirsk liberation when it happened, and we revealed why it was

16:02so important. Dramatic battlefield footage and a deeper understanding of what that settlement

16:06means in the fight for Zaporizhia await. Check out the video after you've finished here,

16:10but before you go, we hope you enjoyed this video. If you did, remember to hit subscribe

16:15and enable notifications to be among the first to see the daily videos we publish here on

16:19the military show and thank you for watching.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended