José Aron Medina (right) and Alexander Ante (centre). Photo: El Tiempo
A Moscow court has arrested two Colombian citizens accused of serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) until 23 October on suspicion of mercenary activities, the Moscow courts’ official Telegram channel said on Wednesday.
Alexander Ante and José Aron Medina Aranda fought for the AFU against the Russian army, but decided to return home in mid-July, leaving Ukraine for Poland to board a flight to Spain, and then travelling to Colombia via Venezuela, according to Colombian daily newspaper El Tiempo.
Neither men’s relatives have been able to make contact with them since their disappearance on 18 July, when they were reportedly detained at Caracas Airport.
The two Colombians have likely been extradited to Russia from Venezuela, but that remains unconfirmed as there have been no photos of Medina and Aranda provided by the Russian court, and the court statement did not specify whether Ante and Medina were present in court or charged in absentia.
The Ukrainian military uniforms being worn by Ante and Medina prompted immigration officers to stop the pair, El Tiempo said, quoting a source in the Venezuelan police who said that wearing AFU insignia in Venezuela was “very risky”, considering the close ties between Moscow and Caracas, and that the Russian Embassy could simply ask the Venezuelan authorities to extradite them.
“The Venezuelan government will try to construct a robust case that looks good in front of the Russians,” a Venezuelan police officer told Medina’s sister in July, adding that this was not the first case of soldiers who fought with the AFU in Ukraine being detained in Venezuela.
Administrators of the pro-war Telegram channel TrackANaziMerc, which monitors foreign military personnel in Ukraine, told Russian media platform RTVI that Ante and Medina had been fighting in Ukraine since mid 2023 as part of a volunteer unit called the Carpathian Sich Battalion, whose members include both Ukrainians and foreign nationals, but that they had decided to leave the country after their unit suffered serious losses.
