Venezuela extradites Colombians who fought for Ukraine to Russia

The Venezuelan authorities detained two Colombian citizens in Caracas and handed them over to Russia, which plans to try them.

According to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, both Colombians were detained in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, and extradited to Russia.

Russia’s FSB also reported that it had detained two Colombian citizens who, according to the intelligence service, had participated in hostilities on the side of Ukraine.

The sister of one of the detainees said that they had attracted the attention of Venezuelan police because they had been wearing Ukrainian army uniforms.

Alexander Arte and Jose Aron Medina were reportedly on their way home to Colombia with a stopover in Caracas.

The authorities of Colombia, Venezuela and Russia did not comment on the incident.

The detention and subsequent expulsion of the Colombians in Caracas was the first known case of extradition to Russia of foreign nationals who fought on the side of Ukraine.

The Russian special service reports that a criminal case for mercenarism has been opened against Colombian citizens. They face up to 15 years in prison on this charge. The FSB did not explain where and when the Colombians were detained.

As a reminder, on the first day of the Russian invasion, February 24, 2022, Ukraine announced the creation of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine as part of the Armed Forces and invited foreign citizens to join it.

Volunteers from more than 50 countries also serve in the International Legion of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

All of them are career servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and do not fall under the definition of mercenaries.

There are also foreign nationals in the Russian army. For example, the Indian government recently reported that eight Indian citizens have now been killed while serving in the Russian army.