Maduros Geschenk an Putin: 2 Söldner, die für die Ukraine kämpften, an Russland ausgeliefert

Yet the icc cant get anyone to arrest putin

Doesnt sound like he is good at picking friends.

This is beyond fucked up, Fuck you Venezuelan Authorities sucking RuZzians Cock with such a coward move. We all know what awaits them, wish they could get POW exchanged ASAP. Fuck RuZzia stay safe Ukraine and all Allies and Friends 💪♥️🖤

If they are harmed anyway Maduro should have been punished for that personally.

I’m sure they get a fair trial and treatment

#MISINFORMATION ALERT

Hey all. The article and its title refer to UAF servicemen as *mercenaries*, which is a slander and a lie. **They were regular soldiers**, just like everyone else, and whatever Russia does to them is a war crime.

Below is a letter I wrote to Politico editors about that.

As a Ukrainian (and a Politico reader), I’d really appreciate if you let them know about this error to allow them to correct this mistake.

—-

Dear editors,

I am writing to inquire about misinformation and slander in the following article and its headline: *Maduro’s gift to Putin: 2 mercenaries who fought for Ukraine extradited to Russia*^(**1**).

The article talks about two Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) servicemen with Colombian citizenship who have been extradited to Russia.

The article calls these two members of the Carpathian Sich batallion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces **mercenaries**.

This is misinformation as well as slander. *Mercenaries* are not legitimate combatants, and no *mercenaries* are fighting for Ukraine (or allowed by its laws). Specifically, Ukraine’s Foreign Legion, like French Foreign Legion, or the US Armed Forces (which have people without US citizenship^(**2**) in their ranks), is not a mercenary group **by definition**^(**3**). These servicemen have all the obligations of people who join UAF voluntarily by signing a contract. They are legal residents of Ukraine^(**4**) and are eligible to apply for citizenship, and **cannot** terminate their contracts during deployment – like all the other UAF soldiers. And, like all UAF soldiers, these two Colombians are entitled to **all** the rights and protections under the Geneva convention as Ukrainian combatants.

Punishing them as *mercenaries* is a cime. In particular, it is a war crime by Russia to *not* treat them as other POWs and guarantee their safety and well-being.

The article compounds the issue by bringing up Russia as also hiring mercenary groups, such as Wagner.

Wagner **is** a mercenary group, known for its ISIS-style acts such as beheading a living soldier with a knife^(**5**) on video.

This group can in no way be compared to any soldiers of the UAF, and the verbiage (“also”) implies that Russia employs mercenaries like Ukraine – which, I reiterate, is not the case. It’s a lie by implication.

Calling foreign-born servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces “mercenaries” is a staple of Russian firehose-of-falsehood^(**6**) misinformation campaigns; something I’d expect to hear on Russian TV – but not on the pages of your publication.

**My question to the editors is**: since when has this kind of misinformation become acceptable in Politico?

I used to trust what I read on the pages of your publication, and it was my go-to source for news in Europe. Should I reconsider?

Please advice.

_____
^1 https://www.politico.eu/article/maduro-putin-russia-arrest-two-colombians-fighting-ukraine-venezuela/

^2 https://immigrationforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/VNA-Fact-Sheet.pdf

^3 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercenary#Foreign_national_servicemen

^4 https://visitukraine.today/blog/2896/all-about-residence-and-acquisition-of-citizenship-by-a-foreigner-in-ukraine-after-or-during-service-in-the-afu

^5 https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/04/12/ukraine-russia-beheading-videos-wedeman-nc-vpx.cnn

^6 https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE198.html

Volunteers, not mercenaries. Ukraine doesn’t hire ANY mercenaries, only paying volunteers a standard UA army salary.

Politico: downward slide or always this bad? This kind of sloppy journalism has been popping up in my feeds a lot lately.