KYIV, Ukraine — “Bendito,” the soldier’s call sign, is Spanish for “blessed.” He said he served many years in Colombia‘s armed forces before requesting his discharge so he could cross the ocean and enroll in Ukraine‘s army.
Earlier this year, Bendito’s left leg was blown off while his unit was fighting Russian invaders in northeastern Ukraine.
On Sunday, Bendito was in Kyiv near the famed Maidan Square with two fellow wounded warriors from his unit, Colombians who go by the combat names Piulo and Indio. All three men were visiting Kyiv’s memorial to Ukraine’s fallen soldiers, specifically paying their respects to men such as Oscar Trujillo (“Chili”), Eduardo Carvajal (“Maximo”), and Diego Alvarado (“Macleod”) — the handful of their countrymen who died in combat in Ukraine.
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These are the men of the 47th Magura Separate Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Magura is a reconnaissance and strike group that suffered massive losses in the war’s first years and has been refilling its ranks with foreign recruits.
Colombia is by far the biggest source of Magura fighters, according to these vets and Ukrainian news sources.
So, why Colombia?
“Colombia has been in war for 60 years, so they have very well-trained soldiers,” Piulo explained. The military there has been battling FARC guerrillas for decades.
And why Magura?
“I did my research,” Bendito said. Magura is a very “formal unit” that has engaged in “a lot of combat, direct engagement” of the enemy. That’s what he said he was looking for, and Indio and Piulo agreed. The three men got the combat they sought in the Sumy oblast, which borders Russia. (Oblasts are what Ukraine calls its states, or provinces.)
Russia controls small parts of the province, and the Sumy-Russia border has been a front line in the war since it started.
The Magura brigade has been engaged there, and that’s where all three men were wounded in battle six months ago.
The brigade has come under attack in the Ukrainian media for ineffectiveness. Its commander, Oleksandr Shyrshyn, who recently resigned, objecting to “moronic tasks” assigned by Ukraine’s military brass, was replaced by a 26-year-old lieutenant colonel named Maksym Danylychuk. There’s also a shadow over recruiting soldiers from Latin America after Brazilian officials alleged that one new fighter recently trained in Ukraine is a leader of a South American drug gang.
But Piulo, Bendito, and Indio, in uniform, leaning on crutches, sang the Magura brigade’s praise.
“They supported us all the way. They supported us in training, and they supported us with …,” Piulo said, gesturing toward his partially amputated right leg.
Indio is also missing part of his right leg, while Bendito’s entire left leg is gone.
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Bendito and Piulo said they don’t have any plans to leave Ukraine.
“I want to become a drone pilot,” Bendito said. Piulo added that he wants to get trained in military medical technology. In Ukraine, there’s a saying — you need to either be in the war or for the war. As much as possible, these South American fighters are trying to stay in the war.