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For the past nine years, Russian media has been promoting the idea of foreigners fighting alongside Ukrainian forces, dubbing them with various labels such as “soldiers of fortune” (rogue adventurers), “Western mercenaries” (messengers of the “curators”), “gendarmes” (who carry out harsh reprisals), and “dogs of war” (who seek profit). The Russian propaganda machine has claimed that these individuals number in the tens of thousands, with some reports alleging that they make up a significant percentage of Ukrainian forces, particularly in the Luhansk sector, where they purportedly represent up to 70% of the total strength. Even Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized them as a “threat to the CIS states”. In this analysis, we will examine the main narratives propagated by Russian media regarding these foreign fighters, as well as the propaganda tactics employed to promote these narratives.
What propaganda says about soldiers from abroad in Ukraine
Russian media and pro-Kremlin Telegram channels are actively promoting a false narrative that Poland is preparing to send as many as 40,000 soldiers to Ukraine, disguised as mercenaries or employees of a private military company, and that they are already making changes to their laws to facilitate this deployment. Russian propagandists also assert that the Poles will not fight under their own flag to avoid implicating NATO in the conflict. However, there is no evidence to support these claims, and Detector Media has extensively debunked this fake story. Despite this, Russian media continues to repeat these accusations, particularly during peak periods of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.
Russian propaganda frequently depicts Ukraine as a magnet for “soldiers of (mis)fortune.” According to the Kremlin’s version of events, the first wave of “mercenaries” arrived in Ukraine in March 2014, purportedly to serve as a replacement for the disbanded Berkut special forces. Poland, Romania, and the Eastern Baltic states were supposedly the initial “mercenary donors”. The propaganda suggests that these foreigners arrived during the Euromaidan protests and never left Ukraine, remaining to fight in the Donbas. As the conflict intensified in 2014, the Ukrainian forces, according to the Russians, were joined by individuals not only from Europe but from around the world, including right-wing radical organizations of the neo-Nazi variety. Since then, Russia has claimed that thousands of mercenaries from over 60 countries have flocked to Ukraine to participate in the war and that Western governments have made sending them part of their state policy.
What tactics does Russia use to promote the narrative of “foreign mercenaries” in Ukraine?
To spread these disinformation messages, Russia employs a familiar set of tactics and tools. Let’s take a closer look at some of them.
1) Equivocation is the basis of Russian propaganda about foreigners fighting on behalf of Ukraine. Russian propagandists attribute unusual characteristics to a subject, which, over time, take hold and are perceived by the public as accurate.
At the outset of the conflict, Russia announced that it would view foreign fighters supporting Ukraine as mercenaries who, if captured, would not be entitled to prisoner-of-war status. The Russian officials repeated emphasis on these foreign soldiers being “outside federal law” has helped establish this false narrative deeply in the media and the minds of Russians.
In July 2022, the authorities in Donetsk, occupied by Russia, sentenced to death two British and one Moroccan national who fought on behalf of Ukraine. The three individuals in question were members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces who had signed contracts before the start of the conflict, lived in Ukraine for several years, and one of them held a Ukrainian passport. Despite this, all three were sentenced to death. Under international law, Russia is obligated to treat foreign military personnel as prisoners of war. However, the Kremlin has disregarded its international obligations by resorting to equivocation and routinely perpetuating false claims.
2) Propagandists discussing this topic also frequently employ discrediting tactics, such as undermining the credibility of the Ukrainian resistance and diminishing the professionalism and authority of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Russian propaganda suggests that Ukraine’s battlefield success is due to the presence of “mercenaries” fighting on its side. The propaganda machine claims that one of the main reasons why foreigners are attracted to Ukraine is because of their alleged professionalism: they are purportedly proficient in using HIMARS and other Western weaponry, possess considerable combat experience, and are well-versed in special NATO offensive tactics. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are supposedly only familiar with outdated Soviet tactics.
The recent successes of the Ukrainian troops and the liberation of the Kharkiv and Kherson regions have triggered the proliferation of fresh fakes and Russian propaganda messages. The Kremlin’s mouthpieces are promoting the narrative to their domestic audience that the Ukrainian army is incapable of achieving significant military victories and that any successes on the battlefield are due to the involvement of foreign fighters. Accordingly, when the Russians sustain considerable losses and are forced to retreat from Ukrainian territory, it is attributed to the enemy’s exceptional NATO training.
As an example, the Russians have attributed their retreat from Kherson to the involvement of foreign mercenaries in the fighting. According to Russian propaganda, these mercenaries arrived in Mykolaiv in August 2022, where they were allegedly identified by locals by their ability to speak French and English. The propaganda asserts that these foreign fighters subsequently made a rapid advance, resulting in the Russian forces being forced to “tactically retreat.”
The purpose of this message is to downplay the accomplishments and genuine successes of Ukraine. In the past year, the Ukrainian military has reclaimed 40% of the territories that were previously occupied, and the West has expressed admiration for Ukraine’s achievements in certain sectors of the frontline during the counteroffensive.
This type of rhetoric also attempts to undermine the significance of Ukraine’s longstanding partnership with NATO and the ongoing training of Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom and EU member states. Ukraine has been collaborating with NATO militarily for years, with numerous joint training programs such as Rapid Trident, Cossack Mace, Silver Saber, Sea Breeze, and Riverine, among others. Even during the ongoing war, Ukraine and NATO continue to find opportunities to train tens of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers. This training goes beyond operational and tactical exercises, encompassing instruction in the use of multiple-launch rocket systems, tanks, underwater and aerial drones, and other areas.
The claim that several (even if only a few dozen) thousand “mercenaries” were able to achieve significant results in fighting against the Russian army comprising several hundred thousand troops is evidence of the Russian manipulation of this issue.
3) Hyperbolization is another tactic commonly used in Russian propaganda, by which propagandists emphasize a fact, exaggerate its significance, and distort reality. This tactic is frequently deployed to magnify the number of foreigners fighting in Ukraine and overemphasize their role in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Russian propaganda has claimed that the number of foreigners in strategically significant areas of the frontline is extraordinarily high, purportedly many times greater than what Ukraine reports. For instance, in the Luhansk sector, only 30% of the Ukrainian forces are supposedly Ukrainian, while the remainder is “foreign mercenaries”. Additionally, Ukraine has allegedly brought in large numbers of “foreign mercenaries” in civilian clothing to Kharkiv. We have scrutinized this case in more detail and discovered no evidence to support these Russian allegations. Nevertheless, comparable assertions continue to be made, particularly in anticipation of Ukrainian counteroffensive operations. This disinformation is a common tactic, as it seeks to explain to the Russian audience how the “second army in the world” could be losing. It implies that Russia is not losing to Ukraine but rather to the exaggerated number of foreign fighters who have supposedly joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Another message that exemplifies the tactic of hyperbolization is the claim that Ukraine attracts foreign fighters because their presence allows it to conduct propaganda in their home countries. According to this propaganda, the foreign media report on their involvement, creating hype around the conflict. However, Ukraine’s prominence in the international media is not due to the participation of non-Ukrainian fighters in the International Legion or volunteer battalions. Rather, the world is condemning Russia’s aggression and watching the horrifying consequences of the conflict, with the lion’s share of media attention focused on the victims, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the aftermath of this destruction, and the millions of Ukrainians affected by the war. Information about the involvement of foreign fighters in the war is not given front-page coverage, partly due to concerns for their safety.
4) Another propaganda tactic frequently employed is the demonization of the enemy. This approach promotes the idea that the adversary is a menacing, malevolent aggressor with destructive goals and intentions.
Russian federal television has aired stories about “mercenaries of Satan” who have purportedly come to fight against Russians. According to this propaganda, elite American special forces have arrived in Ukraine, who allegedly “worship the devil,” use Satanic symbols and follow a secret satanic cult. This rhetoric may seem absurd, but it is incredibly dangerous because it incites violence. Such disinformation seeks to prepare Russians to harm the enemy by portraying them as devilish figures, evoking a strong negative association and repulsive reaction. Comparing the enemy to the devil provokes not only hatred but also underscores the contrast between good and evil, which the propaganda machine employs to promote the “historical mission” of Russian soldiers: to fight against all forms of evil, including otherworldly forces.
5) Mirroring is a propaganda tactic in which one’s own crimes, intentions, and negative traits are attributed to the enemy. As we have previously discussed, this approach is often used to level identical accusations against Ukraine that Ukraine makes against Russia.
An example of this propaganda tactic is the depiction of the Mozart Group as the antithesis of the Wagner Group. In recent months, considerable attention has been paid to the Bakhmut sector because this is the area where fighting has been most intense and where Russia has deployed Wagner mercenaries.
Russian propaganda has created a demonic doppelganger for the Wagner Group in the form of the American private military company (PMC) Mozart Group, which is purportedly opposed to the Wagner Group but continually suffers defeats. According to the propaganda, Yevgeny Prigozhin’s fighters were able to significantly reduce the ranks of the Mozart Group to the point where the group announced its disbandment.
In reality, there is no connection between the Wagner Group and the Mozart Group. The Mozart Group is a volunteer organization composed of former foreign military personnel who are willing to undertake challenging humanitarian missions. While preparing this article, we had the opportunity to speak with a member of the Mozart Group named Robert (name changed to protect the volunteer’s identity).
“We are a group of ex-military personnel with NATO training and extensive experience who volunteer our time to assist with humanitarian missions. In Ukraine, 40% of our activities involve evacuating civilians from high-risk areas at their own or their relatives’ request and delivering humanitarian aid to regions that are difficult or dangerous for other volunteers to access. The remainder of our time is spent on training, including first aid and basic weapons skills. It is only during training that we handle weapons, and it is solely for training purposes. Thousands of soldiers throughout Ukraine, from Ivano-Frankivsk to Donbas, have received training from us. Comparing us to the Wagner Group is entirely misleading. We have not taken part in hostilities and have worked only within the framework of our humanitarian and training missions. It is incorrect to compare our humanitarian mission with the actions of those directly involved in the war,” stated the Mozart Group member. He also mentioned that the group discontinued its operations due to insufficient funds.
What is the real situation with foreign fighters in Ukraine?
Earlier, we debunked a fake claiming that foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine are equivalent to mercenaries. Additionally, we have exposed manipulations surrounding the International Legion, a military unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine where volunteers from other countries serve. It is important to note that a mercenary is someone who primarily has commercial motivations. All foreign nationals and stateless persons fighting for Ukraine are voluntarily enlisted for military service under a contract and are not motivated by financial gain.
Volunteers from 55 countries have joined the International Legion, according to Damien Magrou, a representative of the Legion. The unit is funded from the defense budget and is not a mercenary group. From a legal standpoint, the Legion’s fighters are not mercenaries, as they join the Armed Forces and are subordinate to the Ukrainian military leadership. Some volunteers choose to sign a contract with the Armed Forces, while others join volunteer battalions. Members of the International Legion, like Ukrainian citizens, are paid for their service. Meanwhile, members of volunteer battalions serve on a voluntary basis.
It is worth noting that while Russia accuses Ukraine of using foreign mercenaries, it is itself using foreign mercenaries to seize Ukrainian territory. Russian mercenaries come not only from the “near abroad” but also from the Middle East and Africa. Wagner is known to recruit individuals from these regions, the so-called “black Russians”, as well as imprisoned fighters from the Central African Republic. In fact, in March 2022, Putin and Shoigu publicly supported the involvement of 16,000 mercenaries from the Middle East in the war against Ukraine.
