Ukraine's Colombian soldiers

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 November 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From jungle guerrilla warfare to frozen trenches: why did they leave and will they ever return? The story of the Colombian soldiers choosing to fight in the war in Ukraine. 'We heard the Ukranian President’s SOS call" says Castaño, a soldier in his early 30s who paid for his own flight from Colombia to fight in the war in Ukraine. He's not the only one, Colombians are said to outnumber any other nationality of those foreigners who have volunteered to fight. They've even promoted a Colombian to the rank of Sergeant so he can help process the huge numbers of Latino recruits who don't speak any Ukrainian. Some soldiers we meet have already made a huge sacrifice for a country that’s not their own and are learning to walk with new prosthetic limbs. But they're not just drawn to Ukraine to help, a range of factors in Colombia have pushed many soldiers to leave, not least low pay and a feeling that a job in the Colombian Army is no longer worth it.

Marco Pereira travels around Ukraine talking to Colombian soldiers to find out why they have chosen to fight in a punishing war so far from home.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.8	Welcome to the documentary podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:12.4	This is assignment.
0:16.0	I'm walking through the town centre of a city in western Ukraine.
0:26.6	The sky is blue, the roads are full of traffic, and there is a buzz on the streets as locals go shopping. This region has not been targeted, and it certainly doesn't look like a war zone.
0:34.6	I'm with a young man who is signing up to the Ukrainian armed forces today
0:40.2	to join the fight against Russia.
0:43.4	He's sorting out the relevant paperwork.
0:48.4	But this future soldier is not Ukrainian.
0:51.7	He's from Colombia.
0:53.9	You know how we're the Colombian, God, because you're not... is not Ukrainian. He's from Colombia.
1:01.8	This is Guardian. She's 28 years old.
1:09.7	Guardian is his military call sign, and throughout this program, that's how I will refer to the soldiers I meet.
1:14.3	Guardian had previously been a soldier in Colombia.
1:18.9	After paying for his own flights to travel halfway across the world,
1:21.5	he's now committed to defending Ukraine.
1:25.7	As he walks to the bank in his camouflage trousers,
1:29.3	the Ukrainian passes by cannot help but notice.
1:36.9	He's greeted as a war hero by a group of kids.
1:40.7	They look about 12 or 13 years old, a mix of boys and girls.
1:44.4	Hey, Colombia, one kid shouts.
1:49.2	He's not the only Colombian soldier to have made the long journey to fight here.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.