Before he held a frontline position in Ukraine for 110 days, Jaime, a Colombian volunteer, installed window frames for a living, he recounted to the brigade. Now he is a fighter with the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade "Magura," with the callsign Tornado, according to ArmyInform.
He is one of a large contingent. Thousands of Colombians, many of them military veterans, have signed contracts with Ukrainian units, the 47th among the most prominent.
From window frames to frontline position
Tornado recalls that he already had served in the military 20 years ago and came to Ukraine to "make my contribution to a good cause," and also for the money.
"Range training lasted more than 20 days with every kind of weapon: rifle, RPG, other grenade launchers, various anti-tank and anti-drone weapons, mine work," he says.
The 47th is the unit that held a logistics route near Stepove, outside Avdiivka, for four months and later operated in Russia's Kursk Oblast, according to UNITED24, a sector where 110 days on a position is a long time to stay alive.
110 days, drones overhead
He does not present it as easy. Twenty years out of uniform, trained for three weeks, then a position to hold against constant attacks.
"Very difficult, but my comrade and I managed, and everything that had to be done was done," he says.
It all turned out the way it had to.
"There was fear, yes, but you have to overcome it and be able to stay calm, so you can come out of the fear. As long as you're in a position with drones overhead, you have to keep your fear and other emotions under control," Tornado continues.
"They are flesh and blood"
He does not mythologize the Russians, and he does not soften what the work is.
"They are the same people as us, of flesh and blood. But they come with evil and do evil in this country, in Ukraine. So we do what we must," Tornado adds.
Ukrainian fighters themselves describe Colombian volunteers as “brave and humane,” who retrieve their wounded comrades and injured Ukrainians from the frontline, and are ready to carry out essential missions.
