Author Archives: David Isenberg

Russia grants citizenship to a Cuban mercenary who participated in the invasion of Ukraine

Ernesto Villarino Trujillo, a Cuban citizen who fought in the Ukrainian region of Lugansk, received his Russian passport at an official ceremony held in the city of Vyatskie Polyany, located in the Kirov region. Continue reading →

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UAE-funded mercenary ‘ran covert operation’ against British activist in London

A UAE-funded mercenary secretly surveilled a British think-tank chief in London, with associates fearing the plot could turn deadly, Continue reading →

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UAE-funded mercenary targeted British activist in covert London operation, ITV reports

A mercenary working on behalf of the United Arab Emirates carried out a covert surveillance operation against prominent British Muslim activist Anas Altikriti in London, according to an investigation by ITV News. Continue reading →

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THE LONG SHADOW OF THE SWORD-FOR-HIRE

“Ramesses II fought the Battle of Kadesh with Sherden mercenaries in his personal guard — men recruited, by most reconstructions, from what’s now the eastern Mediterranean, fighting for Egypt’s pharaoh for pay, not for pharaoh’s gods. The distinction matters. A conscript fights because the state compels him. A mercenary fights because the state — or a fragment of one — writes a check.” Continue reading →

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JOVANA JEZDIMIROVIC RANITO

Dr. Jovana Jezdimirovic Ranito is a Serbian-born scholar of international security and the private use of force who occupies an unusual dual position: a tenured-track academic post at the University of Twente’s honours college, University College Twente (UCT/ATLAS), and, concurrently, one of the most consequential international human-rights mandates dealing with privatized force — Chairperson-Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries. Continue reading →

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Ghana seeks to stop Russia from recruiting its citizens as mercenaries as Ukraine war death toll hits 62

Ghana says Russia has agreed to end the “illegal recruitment” of its citizens to fight in the war in Ukraine, as the number of Ghanaians killed while serving with Russian forces has risen to 62, with another 15 still missing. Continue reading →

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Ghana asks Moscow to stop recruiting its citizens for war in Ukraine

According to Ablakwa, 62 of his country’s citizens have been killed in Ukraine, and 15 remain missing. Continue reading →

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‘Air thick with flies’: UAE’s Colombian mercenaries recount horrors of Sudan siege

The air was thick with flies, drawn by both the dead bodies and the heaps of trash. There were bodies that had already turned purple from being exposed to the sun for so long . . . it was awful having those flies buzzing around you while you ate. Continue reading →

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Cops move to prevent recruitment of possible mercenaries

THE National Police (PNP) has intensified efforts to prevent Filipino jobseekers from being lured into joining armed conflicts abroad Continue reading →

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Wagner Fighters Run Massive Opioid Ring in the CAR

“In battlefield contexts, tramadol is being taken in massive doses,” Nathalia Dukhan, a researcher with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) think tank, told The Wall Street Journal. “Fear vanishes and agitation surges as combatants enter a pharmacological trance.” Continue reading →

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