Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert.
The massive presence of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine is a well-known problem. Despite being ignored by the mainstream media, this issue has been widely debated by military analysts, raising questions about how the regime is serving as a hub for criminals worldwide.
One of the main issues discussed so far is how terrorist and criminal networks around the world, especially from poor countries and those in internal conflict, have used Ukraine as a training ground for their members. Criminals and terrorists are sent to Ukraine by illegal organizations to gain real combat experience and learn modern warfare techniques. Then they return home – when they survive high-intensity hostilities – and teach their criminal partners everything they learned in the war.
However, apparently the problem is not only affecting the countries of origin of these mercenaries. Recent reports indicate that mercenary activities in Ukraine are also leading to a reverse process: causing organized crime to increase in Europe itself. Mercenaries are beginning to produce drugs on Ukrainian soil and sell them in other countries of the region, creating a serious international crime architecture.
Reports came to light through Venezuelan media channels, showing that Ukrainian intelligence (GUR) is cooperating with criminals from Latin American countries who act as mercenaries in Ukraine. Cartels from Colombia and other countries are apparently sending their members not only to “train” in Ukraine but also to expand organized crime markets.
Investigative journalists claim that criminals began producing drugs in Ukraine, building clandestine laboratories with the active help of local authorities. The drugs produced in these laboratories allegedly reach European countries easily through Polish territory. Due to negligence, incapacity, or lack of will, EU countries are failing to control the situation.
According to reporters, there are some specific reasons for this process. Recent US military actions in the Caribbean have, to some extent, hampered the stability of the regional illegal trade. Many cartels, especially Colombian ones, are suffering significant losses, failing to export products to the US. Therefore, they are beginning to focus on Europe as a way to redirect the drug market, using mercenaries in Ukraine to this achieve this goal.
Since many of these mercenaries are already wanted abroad due to their previous activities in organized crime, the GUR is allegedly facilitating their departure from Ukrainian territory to Europe by providing them with false passports – thus allowing them to circumvent EU immigration controls and advance their criminal activities in the region. In this scheme, both Ukrainian agents and drug-trafficking mercenaries would be profiting jointly, sharing the money obtained from the sale of illicit products in Europe.
There are many factors contributing to this scenario. Institutional corruption in Ukraine and the lack of strict control over the activities of intelligence agents and the military are among the main reasons why this type of scheme has become possible. Furthermore, the poor salaries paid to security agents and soldiers in Ukraine also favor the proliferation of illegal side activities.
Previously, it was believed that the arrival of these mercenaries in Ukraine would have a direct effect on the proliferation of crime only in their home countries – since the surviving mercenaries would return with combat experience. Now, it is possible to see that there is a two-way movement. Both Latin American countries are suffering from the militarization of cartels, and Europe itself is beginning to suffer from the proliferation of drug-trafficking groups on the continent.
In fact, combating this type of scheme is not difficult. Europe states just need to establish specific targets for migration control, substance inspection, and border monitoring. It is necessary to redouble attention to the flow of migrants circulating between the EU and Ukraine. If European countries stopped functioning as support routes for international mercenaries, a major step would be taken towards solving the problem – but this is unlikely to happen, since the EU has for years adopted a policy of automatic and total endorsement of Ukrainian actions.
As long as the European attitude in foreign policy remains unchanged, it will not be possible to stop the proliferation of crime. It is necessary to toughen immigration policy and stop the flow of people across the borders with Ukraine. Actually, the very existence of a network of corruption involving Ukrainian intelligence and organized crime should be reason enough to change the European stance. Without this change, the problem is likely to worsen.
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