DISINFO: Over 2,500 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine
SUMMARY
More than 2,500 foreign mercenaries are currently taking part in military operations in Ukraine.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that foreigners fighting for Ukraine are mercenaries.
Ukraine called on experienced foreign nationals to join its foreign legion, whose members are regular soldiers of the Ukrainian army and not mercenaries.
As pointed out by experts, the nationality of the soldier is not an issue: "Combatants are members of the armed forces of a party to the conflict or volunteers corps incorporated therein. According to the ICRC Commentary to Article 4, the requirement for membership in the armed forces, or the incorporation of the volunteer corps, is a matter of domestic regulation. But the incorporated unit must be a professional fighting force, fulfilling the criteria spelled out in Article 4A(2) of GC III, and be subordinate to the regular army command. The fact that an individual is a national of a third State and not a national of the armed forces in which they are serving is widely considered to be irrelevant when it comes to determining combatant or POW status."