Russian Bombing 'Dampens Enthusiasm' of Ukraine's Foreign Mercs Despite Huge Losses
12:37 18.01.2024 (Updated: 13:59 18.01.2024)
© AP Photo / Kostiantyn Liberov
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Due to the disastrous counteroffensive, Ukraine has lost a lot of soldiers; therefore, foreign mercenaries have helped to reinforce its military numbers. However, Russia is still carrying out precise strikes as part of its special operation, which includes hitting training centers that these shooters for hire have set up.
Russia’s strikes on facilities housing foreign mercenaries in Ukraine will likely "dampen the enthusiasm" of guns for hire, retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik.
Strikes like that Russia carried out on Kharkov "raise the risk level for these soldiers and others, who are in Ukraine largely for the money," noted the former analyst for the US Department of Defense. Russia is sending a powerful message to all foreign fighters and others ready to join the Kiev regime's forces for cash.
"Perhaps they will require more money, and if this is not forthcoming, it will no doubt dampen their enthusiasm," Kwiatkowski said.
Reflecting on the kind of people who freelance for the Ukrainian military amid its botched counteroffensive and huge casualties, the pundit said they were the product of years of war and societal decline in the West.
"There are people, including Americans, who have been psychologically ruined for normal work and life as a result of 30 plus years of US intervention in Iraq, Afghanistan, even the Former Yugoslavia, and a variety of other places," Kwiatkowski said. "Some are no doubt sociopaths who enjoy shooting people, but others seek to feel like a part of something that is real, and fighting gives this to them."
Despite mounting evidence that mercenaries are treated badly, paid little and often are a special target for the Russian military, they continue to boost the ranks of Ukraine's armed forces.
"I think that most who are working for the Ukrainians directly are probably marginals more than professionals, but the US government, like the Brits and others, do hire the more capable in this arena," Kwiatkowski said. "In this sense, I am thinking of one of the American snipers relating to the 2014 Maidan coup, Brian Boyenger, who had a background in the Army and experience fighting in Iraq, and later became a shadowing asset for hire, who after he reportedly left the service, was in contact and in a way, on call, with the US government agencies."
As Ukraine is plagued by recruitment woes at home coupled with poor political and military leadership, the expert argued that so-called soldiers of fortune would be able to quickly recognize the signs of failure in the Kiev regime.
"Any mercenary, without particular loyalty to Ukraine and with some experience in battle, would by himself or with his compatriots, quickly assess the risk/reward equation, and choose an appropriate course of action," she stressed.
However, added Kwiatkowski, "sociopathic Russia-haters, and others, may wish to remain in order to continue a stalemate – again, as long as they can be paid, or otherwise gain some kind of material reward."
'Bludgeoned by West's Propaganda'
Russia’s strike targeting foreign fighters is a strong “warning” to mercenaries in Ukraine, French retired Colonel Jacques Hogard told Sputnik.
So-called guns for hire who end up being eliminated by Russia’s precision strikes in Ukraine are likely “marginal people interested in money or adventure,” he said.
“They must not know the reality of the fate that will be reserved by Ukrainian forces for them,” noted Hogard, who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and special forces.
The former colonel of the French special forces task group under NATO command in Kosovo added that the hirelings had likely been “bludgeoned by NATO and Western propaganda.”
“It seems to me that they only represent a tiny number, which will diminish as NATO's defeat is confirmed,” Jacques Hogard said.
Following the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2022, hundreds of mercenaries from North America and Europe flocked to join the Kiev regime's military ranks. Lured by promises of blood money, they ignored Russia’s warnings that foreign mercs would have a target on their backs. Over time, some of these hierlings fled to their home countries, while many were wiped out by Russia's Armed Forces.
