A video recently published on social media shows the moment a Ukrainian FPV (First Person View) drone follows an African mercenary fighting on the side of Russian forces in Ukraine.
The footage, which has been widely shared online, illustrates the increasingly intensive use of suicide drones on the front lines.
It has not been revealed where the video was recorded or the identity of the mercenary, and the authenticity of the footage has not been independently verified.
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has recruited thousands of foreign fighters to fill a shortage of military personnel.
In addition to mercenaries from Asia and the Middle East, fighters from several African countries, including Cameroon, Nepal (not Africa), Sierra Leone, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have also been seen in the ranks of the Russian army, who have been lured with promises of high salaries, military contracts, and the opportunity to obtain Russian citizenship.
Some of these recruitments have been organized through networks linked to the former Russian mercenary group Wagner, which has been active for years in several African countries such as Mali, the Central African Republic, Libya and Sudan. After the reorganization of Russian military structures, many of these fighters have been integrated into units controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense or other paramilitary formations.
Ukrainian authorities have stated on several occasions that they have encountered foreign nationals fighting for Russia on the battlefield, while Western intelligence services have reported that the Kremlin continues to rely on international recruitment to compensate for heavy losses in the war.
On the other hand, Ukraine also has foreign volunteers in its ranks who fight within the International Legion, making the conflict involve fighters from dozens of countries around the world. /Telegraph/
