Russian resources are disseminating information that Ukraine is allegedly recruiting mercenaries abroad into the International Legion, thereby violating the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the corresponding statement by the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Mariia Zakharova.

In fact, this information is not true. Ukraine does not recruit mercenaries. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Indeed, according to international law, a mercenary is a person who is not part of the Armed Forces of a state and who participates in hostilities in order to receive material compensation. In addition, it significantly exceeds the remuneration of a combatant of the Armed Forces of the same rank and function. The International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is an integral part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with material support at the same level as other formations.

With this fake, the Russian propaganda machine is trying to divert attention from the recruitment of mercenaries by Russia itself. Moreover, the message about the International Legion as “mercenaries” is being spread with the aim of removing its military personnel from the scope of the Geneva Convention, which protects combatants, in particular in captivity. We previously wrote about how Russia blurs reality using the term “foreign mercenaries”.