VIDEOFAKE: Colombians from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade boast stacks of dollars

On social media, a video is being circulated in which alleged foreign volunteers from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade demonstratively wave large stacks of money in dollars and rejoice at the profits from serving in Ukraine. The post claims that these are supposedly Colombian mercenaries and that they have a “special status” in the brigade.

In reality, this is a videofake. AI was used to replace or fabricate faces in the video.

A check using the Sensity.AI tool, which detects AI-generated content, showed with a 93% probability that face manipulation was used in the video — the men’s faces were replaced or fabricated using artificial intelligence. 

In addition, in the video, the men are holding banknotes with denominations of 500 and 1,000 hryvnias (UAH), not dollars, as claimed by propagandists.

The original source of the video is the TikTok account @jhonedinsonruiz21, which indeed appears to be the profile of a foreign volunteer.

However, other videos on this page are also generated using artificial intelligence.

We did not find other pages of this man on social media. A check using the PimEyes service, which searches for facial matches in open sources, also did not find his photos outside this TikTok account. This indicates that the author’s “identity” may be entirely fabricated, and that the profile was created specifically to spread disinformation.

Indeed, volunteers from Colombia are fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Currently, at least 2,000 fighters are serving, and according to some accounts, up to 7,000 in total have passed through the Defense Forces — the contract terms allow them to leave service and return home. This makes Colombians one of the largest foreign contingents in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. Many of them already have combat experience, and the war in Ukraine allows them to apply their skills after completing service in Colombia. Many fight out of support for a country that has suffered aggression, but, among other things, also for financial compensation (pay in the combat zone is several times higher than military pensions in Colombia). According to estimates by the CEPA analytical center, their monthly salary may amount to about $3,000–4,000 (approximately 127,000–170,000 UAH).

Although citizens of other states indeed fight in Ukraine, they are not mercenaries. Such fighters join the International Legion or other units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine on a contractual basis. Therefore, under international law, they are considered servicemembers who legally serve in the state’s armed forces. Mercenaries, by contrast, are not servicemembers of official armed forces.

Previously, we debunked the fake claim that “hazing” had allegedly flourished among Colombian volunteers in the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade.