Back in January last year, Turkish Hürseda Haber published a detailed report about the losses in manpower and equipment for both the Russian military and the Kiev regime forces. Citing Israeli intelligence sources, specifically the Mossad, the report contained a rather interesting and highly detailed breakdown of losses for both sides. Nearly all numbers were confirmed to be true in the following months, although Hürseda Haber hasn’t updated its list since publishing it. One particular figure stood out – foreign fighters (mostly NATO personnel) and mercenaries. No other media outlet or source ever published such a detailed account of the deaths and injuries of foreigners in the NATO-orchestrated Ukrainian conflict. Namely, it mentioned the following:
- 234 NATO officers killed and wounded in action (mostly British and American);
- 2,458 NATO soldiers killed and wounded in action (Germany, Poland, Lithuania, etc.);
- 5,360 mercenaries killed and wounded in action.
And while it wasn’t possible to verify these claims with complete certainty at the time, they were much closer to estimates by various non-Western sources and military experts.
What’s more, the figures given for the Kiev regime did not contradict the number cited by the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, who stated that the Neo-Nazi junta’s losses exceeded 100,000 soldiers. Leyen’s statement, given back in November 2022, was promptly cut from the official address video, as it was undermining the ludicrous narrative of “Russia losing”. Apart from some guesstimates, we haven’t had any detailed updates since then. That is, until a few days ago when the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) published some information about it.
On March 14, the MoD updated its data on foreign mercenaries eliminated by the Russian military. According to the official reports, in total, 13,387 mercenaries have joined the Neo-Nazi junta forces, with 5,962 killed in action (KIA) so far. Most of them came from Poland, the United States, Canada and Georgia. This includes 1,497 Poles (of 2,960 involved), 561 Georgians (of 1,042 in total), 491 Americans (of 1,113), 422 Canadians (of 1005), 360 Britons (of 822), 349 Romanians (of 784), 147 French (of 356) and 88 Germans (of 235). While there is some divergence between these numbers, especially considering how much time has elapsed since then, they are not too far apart. In addition, these are only the numbers that the Russian military was able to confirm unequivocally.
In reality, the actual number could be much higher, especially when taking into account hundreds of long-range drone and missile strikes launched by the Russian military.
Either way, the South Front estimates that around 40% of all mercenaries have been neutralized so far, which is also quite in line with the percentage of casualties for the Kiev regime forces (recently exceeded the official number of active duty personnel).
On the other hand, the mainstream propaganda machine gives much larger (albeit varying) figures. According to the Washington Post, approximately 20,000 foreigners from over 50 countries have joined the ranks of the Kiev regime forces. The number could certainly be inflated for propaganda purposes, but it’s also not too far from the data given by the Russian MoD.
Either way, one thing is certain – no foreign fighter was ready for the conflict in Ukraine.
No matter how much battlefield experience one has, there was nothing that could’ve prepared them for the scale of the fighting and the high-tech aspect of the special military operation (SMO).
NATO personnel are used to fighting largely helpless countries and resistance movements that would be formed ad hoc in the aftermath of the deployment of American occupation forces, as well as those of their numerous vassals and satellite states. On the other hand, fighting the Russian military means that there’s no air superiority and, thus, no close air support (CAS), which is central to any NATO military operation. Worse yet, it’s Moscow that has a clear advantage in that regard and nothing indicates this will change.
Back in mid-January, French mercenaries learned this the hard way. Namely, they were stationed at a hotel in the eastern city of Kharkov when the Russian military launched a long-range strike that resulted in at least 80 casualties, over 60 of whom were killed. And these men weren’t even on the frontline. They were foolish enough to not only think they’re safe, but also believed that Moscow would simply ignore such a high concentration of foreign fighters in one place. And yet, the situation in the trenches is not much better either. In a recently published video account involving an American and a British mercenary, they touched upon several topics concerning drones and trench warfare in Ukraine. Expectedly, there was some propaganda involved, but they pointed out the high-tech aspect of the conflict.
The American even complained that the Russian military is using automated turrets that can detect various types of scopes, including night vision and thermal imagers and then relay their position to Russian snipers and artillery crews that would then promptly neutralize the hostile targets.
Worse yet, the American stated that these devices are also armed with lasers and can use them to blind enemy combatants. Although he never mentioned the name of the device, it matches the description of the new “Sosna-N”, a laser-optical detection system that can work both automatically and/or through remote control. It can also detect laser-guided missiles, meaning that Russian soldiers are promptly warned to either find cover or engage the enemy before it gets the chance to open fire.
However, this is not the end of troubles for foreign mercenaries who were foolish enough to join the Neo-Nazi junta forces. Namely, the Kiev regime has shown the propensity to use them exactly the same as its own forces – cannon fodder.
Worse yet, it has demonstrated a willingness to directly kill its most loyal henchmen, as evidenced by the recent shootdown of a Russian Il-76MD transport aircraft packed with Ukrainian POWs (prisoners of war), including approximately a dozen “Azov Battalion” members.
There was also at least one case when two French mercenaries were killed for trying to leave Ukraine after they uncovered the Kiev regime’s plot to attack a high-ranking delegation from France.
All this should serve as a lesson to any and all foreign personnel in Ukraine, be it adventurers with unrealistic expectations of what actual warfare is, adrenaline addicts, avid Call of Duty players, pathological Russophobes or professional NATO “advisers” – you will get killed if you come to Ukraine. Best case scenario, you could get maimed for life or (if you’re really lucky) you might escape with no major physical injuries, but still end up with a severe case of PTSD.
Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.