- Category
- Latest news
Filipino Citizen Killed in Meat Grinder Assault While Fighting for Russia in Donetsk Region
- Authors
![Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko]( "Photo of Dariia Mykhailenko")
A foreign mercenary from the Philippines fighting for Russia has been killed in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Ukraine’s military intelligence said.
According to the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (HUR) on January 26, the body of John Patrick, a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, was identified among Russian troops eliminated in the area. The foreign national had been serving in the ranks of Russia’s armed forces.
Every article pushes back against disinformation. Your support keeps our team in the field.
Ukrainian intelligence said Patrick was assigned to the 9th assault company of the 3rd battalion of the 283rd Brigade of Russia’s 144th Motorized Rifle Division, part of the 20th Combined Arms Army.
Like many other foreign mercenaries, Patrick was killed during what Ukrainian intelligence described as a “meat assault” near the village of Novoselivka in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region.
At the time of his death, Patrick reportedly carried only his weapon, ammunition, and a small piece of paper listing his unit number, his commander’s name, and a phone number. Ukrainian intelligence noted that he did not speak Russian.
Data recovered from the mercenary’s electronic devices indicated that his basic training lasted only about a week before he was sent directly to the front line. According to the intelligence report, after being wounded, he was left without evacuation support and died slowly in a forested area.
“The aggressor state, Russia, is expanding the criminal practice of recruiting foreign citizens and labor migrants into its armed forces through deception or coercion, offering foreigners rear-area service or threatening them with problems with the police,” HUR concluded.
As Russia looks for new ways to recruit foreign nationals into its armed forces, investigation by the BBC found that Polina Azarnykh, a 40-year-old former Russian schoolteacher, issued nearly 500 invitations that allowed foreign men to enter Russia and sign military contracts.
According to the investigation, Azarnykh targeted men from Syria, Egypt, Yemen, and other countries, assuring recruits and their families that they would not be sent into combat. The invitation documents enabled recipients to travel to Russia and enlist on one-year contracts.
One recruit, Omar, a 26-year-old Syrian construction worker who spoke under a pseudonym, said Azarnykh promised him a non-combat role and Russian citizenship, and demanded $3,000 to guarantee he would not be deployed to the front line. After he refused to pay, Omar said he was sent to Ukraine with just 10 days of training.
-f561b4d4e04ef389e7d930d2663da57a.png)
The BBC reported that Omar also witnessed dead soldiers being quickly wrapped in plastic bags and left in nearby wooded areas. He later learned that a 2022 Russian decree allows military contracts to be automatically extended for the duration of the war, leaving recruits with no clear way to leave the army once enlisted.
Earlier, a 23-year-old man from Argentina who traveled to Russia to study the language has ended up on the front lines in Ukraine, where he is now appealing to his family for help in returning home.
Gianni Dante Bettiga, a native of Tierra del Fuego in Argentina’s far south, arrived in Russia in February to study Russian language and culture at a university in Yekaterinburg, roughly 1,600 kilometers east of Moscow.
-29ed98e0f248ee005bb84bfbf7f30adf.jpg)
-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
-72b63a4e0c8c475ad81fe3eed3f63729.jpeg "Photo of Cyril Barabaltchouk")
