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“Get Me Out of Here”: Argentine Student Trapped Fighting in Russia’s War
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A 23-year-old Argentine man who went to Russia to study the language has found himself trapped on the front lines in Ukraine, pleading with his family to bring him home.
Gianni Dante Bettiga, from Tierra del Fuego in Argentina’s far south, traveled to Russia in February to study Russian culture and language at a university in Yekaterinburg, about 1,600 kilometers east of Moscow, according to Argentinian newspaper Clarin on November 4.
But after meeting two Brazilian classmates, he was persuaded to sign a contract with a private company that recruits foreigners to fight for Russia—a decision that, his father says, quickly turned into a nightmare.
“He signed a contract—it was written in Russian—and what was supposed to be for one year ended up being for three,” said Juan Bettiga, Gianni’s father, speaking from Ushuaia, Clarin reported.
‼️ This is important.
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) November 7, 2025
Russia and its propaganda machine targeting the Global South seek to build a cheap and inexhaustible reserve of expendable soldiers.
Many impoverished people, poisoned and deceived by Kremlin propaganda and anti-Western rhetoric, head to the war in Ukraine… https://t.co/1tn4nYiWdk pic.twitter.com/TblPZjs0lb
“He underwent military training for two weeks near Moscow, and in the third week, they sent him to Donetsk, Ukrainian territory occupied by Russia.”
Gianni told his mother he “ended up in the army by mistake,” saying the job he thought was administrative turned out to be combat training, Clarin reported.
According to his parents, cited by Clarin, Gianni had one clear condition: he did not want to be part of the Russian Army. But within weeks, he was enlisted and deployed.
Letters from the front
In messages sent from occupied Donetsk, Gianni described grim conditions and fear.
“I’m on the battlefield. I want to go back to Argentina no matter what. I don’t care about this country anymore. Please, do something to get me out of here. I love you, Dad,” one message read.
“I can’t mess around much here because those who want to leave or show little willingness are thrown into the grinder. I can’t wait to get back, but as long as I’m here, I have to stay strong. Dad, I’m not afraid of dying, because it’s just an instant and that’s it—but I am afraid of losing an arm or a leg.”
Juan said reading those words “broke” him. “It was like a bomb—imagine that—but I have to appear strong, because he has to stay strong,” he told Clarin reporters.
Gianni’s mother, Carla Zucchi, a teacher, said military life was the last thing she ever imagined for her son.
“Nothing could be further from military life than my son, who never obeyed an order in his life,” she said.
Sleeping with rats
Gianni keeps in touch only when he finds Wi-Fi, sometimes disappearing for days. In one message, he described sleeping in a warehouse “full of rats” and sheltering in a tank during bombardment until his unit—identified as the 57th Battalion—was ordered to retreat, according to Clarin.
“He told me he spent six hours inside a tank until, because of shelling, they had to evacuate and spent the night in a forest, completely in the dark and afraid of what might happen,” Juan said.
Despite the fear, Gianni still tries to stay busy. His father sends him downloaded war movies and TV series to watch during rare quiet moments.
“He only asks for war movies—maybe because he’s immersed in that world now,” Juan said. “I sent him The Fighters, Operation Final, Heaven Is for Real, and House of Cards, among others.”
“According to Ukrainian officials, as many as 25,000 Cubans could soon be fighting for Russia, overtaking North Koreans as the largest contingent of foreign troops on the battlefield”
— Bricktop_NAFO (@Bricktop_NAFO) October 7, 2025
- Forbes Magazine
Yet we have to stand by and watch Ukraine fight alone, to avoid escalation? pic.twitter.com/8Itj9DGP1a
A desperate plea to Moscow
Clarin reported that Juan Bettiga, who is battling liver cancer, sent a formal letter to Russia’s defense minister Andrey Belousov asking for his son’s immediate discharge.
He cited Article 51 of Russia’s Federal Law 53-FZ, which allows release from service under exceptional humanitarian circumstances.
“I request the immediate dispensation of military obligations currently performed by my son, Gianni Dante Bettiga, in defense of the Russian Federation,” the letter reads. “My health condition requires urgent treatment, and I have no one else to care for me.”
He enclosed medical records and a copy of Gianni’s enlistment contract.
“I won’t begin my treatment until I know my son is safe,” he said. “The treatment would leave me sedated most of the time, and right now I need to stay awake—to respond to Gianni.”
The family has appealed to Argentine and Russian diplomatic missions, as well as Argentine politicians, but the absence of bilateral relations between Buenos Aires and Moscow complicates the case.
Argentinian President Javier Milei has openly supported Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and condemned Russia’s war.
“It won’t be easy,” Juan admitted. “But I’m not giving up.”
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Joined by mistake
He “ended up in the army by mistake,” with the job he thought he was getting was administrative, but it turned out to be combat training.
“He said, ‘Mom, it’s not what I wanted—I joined without realizing. I thought it was an office job,’” Carla recalled. “He’s never even held a gun before,” she said. “Now he carries one every day.”
For now, the Bettiga family can only wait for his next message—and hope it isn’t the last, Clarin concluded.
Earlier, reports emerged that seventeen South African nationals were deceived into traveling to eastern Ukraine and compelled to take part in combat operations.
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