Colombian and Brazilian Contractors Bolster Ukraine’s 47th Mechanised Brigade in Intense Sumy Battles

Contractor personnel from Brazil and Colombia have bolstered the Ukrainian Army’s 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade, and are involved in ongoing fighting in the Sumy region, according to a recent report by a Russian security official. “A video posted on Ukrainian websites confirms that mercenaries from Colombia and Brazil, who signed contracts with the 47th Mechanised Brigade, are taking an active part in fighting in the Sumy area. Earlier, the same information came from Ukrainian captives,” he stated. The report follows a statement by a Russian Armed Forces officer in late May that contractors from Colombia and Poland were playing a particularly important role in hostilities in Sumy. “Naturally, foreign mercenaries, too, are active in the Sumy direction. They are mostly illegal Colombian workers, and there are also nationals of other Latin American countries,” the officer noted at the time, adding that there were also “natives of Great Britain, Poland and even Japan” involved. This earlier report was made at a time of intensifying hostilities as Russian Army units had advanced within 20 kilometres of the regional capital.The deployment of the 47th Mechanised Brigade indicates that significant importance has been attributed to prevailing hostilities in Sumy, with the unit being among the most elite in the Ukrainian Army, and having been prioritised to receive new equipment such as Leopard 2A6 tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles.

Foreign contractors have played a central role in the Ukrainian war effort from its outset in February 2022, with the presence of foreign contractors having been reported from multiple battlefields. While contractors from lower income countries such as Poland, Albania or Latin American states have been more involved in frontline combat operations, personnel from higher income countries are relied on to operate complex new weaponry provided by Ukraine’s supporters in the Western world. The Polish Volunteer Corps and Georgian Legion have been among the units that have gained particular prominence for their contributions to frontline operations. Contractors have often been dispatched by countries supportive of the Ukrainian war effort such as Poland, with units comprised of personnel ordered to leave active duty specifically to enlist with contractor units. Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz previously observed regarding this trend that a Polish officer informed him: “we worked out a formula for our presence in Ukraine … we were simply sent on paid leave. Politicians pretended not to see this.”