MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentines fighting for Ukraine fall in combat

It was the trio's first foray into hostile territory

Three Argentine mercenaries who had been fighting for the Ukrainian Army for over a month have died in combat, according to reports from Kyiv. They were part of a commando unit made up of two other Argentines and one Colombian, who also fell in action during their first operation against Russia, in the Sumy region, northeast of the country.

José Adrián Gallardo, Ariel Achor, and Mariano Franco had participated since arriving in Ukraine and officially enlisting as mercenaries. Gallardo, whose nom de guerre was “Rogy,” was from Córdoba and was 53 years old. Franco, alias “Sisu,” was 47 and from Merlo. Achor was 25 years old.

They were part of an assault unit seeking to recover positions lost to the Russians earlier in the war. Sumy is one of the areas where the fiercest fighting is taking place and where Russia is seeking to advance its positions. Because of this, movement in these areas is highly risky. The operation took place 10 days ago. The group's mission was to kill the Russians or take them prisoner.

After achieving their objective and as they were on their way back to base, one of the Argentines stepped on a mine, which exploded. He died instantly.

The other five members continued with two Russian POWs who also lost their lives in the explosion. The two other Argentines and the Colombian fighter died as well in the incident. Other reports mentioned a Russian drone attack against what Ukrainian combatants call the “zero line,” the most dangerous point of contact with Russian troops.

According to TN, the assault unit had achieved its objective and was withdrawing from the battlefield with two Russian prisoners of war when they were detected and attacked from the air.

In July this year, a similar attack killed fellow Argentine mercenary 39-year-old Emmanuel “Coca” Vilte, who had been a member of the Ukrainian forces since 2022. It is estimated that a larger number of Argentines have lost their lives in the more than three and a half years of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine.