For six months, Otilia Ante barely slept, enduring the pain that began when her son disappeared. Or, more accurately, when Vladimir Putin kidnapped him.
It took place on July 18 last year, nine months after the Colombians fought for Kiev in Ukraine, on a trip home to the Colombians.
Doña Otilia is well known in the Colombian city of Popayán, and he is countless times for the possibility that his “Hijito” (her “little boy”) might be killed in the war.
She never thought that the danger would appear after he lowered his arms, or that her son would be at the center of an international scandal, although it received little attention. And he will appear on the video and speak from fellow Russian prisoners.
Credits: RT
Otilia’s son Alexander, along with his compatriots, was a Ukrainian fighter jet that had nothing to do with war in the third country.
It is believed that when they crossed the Venezuelan capital Caracas and were extradited to Russia, the two were stolen – a gift from Nicolás Maduro to Putin, one dictator was the other.
It also represents a clear warning from Moscow to foreign combatants who registered to join Keeff’s cause: No one is beyond the scope of the Kremlin.
“I’m tired of life. I don’t know what to do, I always think of my son.”
“I don’t know if he’s cold, hungry, or how they treat him. I don’t know anything! It’s so hard… Sometimes I wish I could leave by plane, but where can I go?”
Alexander dreamed of moving his mother out of a troubled community at the age of 46.
Using his experience fighting guerrillas in the Colombian army, he flew to Ukraine and enlisted in 2023, which could earn between $2,400 and £3,200 for foreign fighters.
Like many fighters from abroad, he joined the 49th Infantry Battalion Karpatska SIC, a controversial unit with neo-Nazi history but has been professional in recent years.
The department is popular among foreign fighters, not because of ideology, but because it has direct access to the frontlines.
His mother said Alexander – who did not share the group’s ideology – Never cause trouble. He calls his absence mother every night for the medication costs.
Every night, Otilia illuminates the candles and prays to the saints, asking her son to return – Fermin Torrano
“He has no bad habits; he’s been looking for me,” Otilia said.
Unlike many soldiers at Karpatska Sich, 49th Infantry Battalion, Alexander survived and by the summer of 2024, he returned home.
He called his mother on Thursday, July 18, just a few hours before starting his journey back.
“Mamita, I’m home on Saturday. Keep some Sancocho (typical Colombian stew) for me,” he told her.
From Ukraine, crossing the land and flying to Madrid, he still had 3 flights – Caracas, Bogota and Cali – before finally reaching home.
But there was no news on Saturday. Sunday and Monday followed by silence. Then arrive Tuesday with “wait and wait”.
Nine kilometers from Otilia’s home, another woman, Cielo Paz, finds herself equally anxious. Her husband, José Aron Medina, stopped responding to her message.
José Aron Medina’s wife Cielo Paz and their young daughter Samara
He had been on his video with Alexander in Madrid, and the hours since was a pin at the Caracas Airport in Venezuela.
He had planned to return to Popayán in time on weekends to celebrate his 37th birthday. But José Aron has never been there, and his wife’s love texts have not arrived.
So the search begins.
Missing persons report, appeal to the local council, the prosecutor’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs…
Otilia and her other children have little resources, and Cielo and her siblings move the world into the couple. Nothing was found on official and unofficial inquiries.
An official missing person report describes Jose Aron’s disappearance – Fermin Torrano
The Ukrainian Brigade of Alexander only sent back his military passport and saw his military passport in his missing person report
Then on August 30 last year, 43 days after Alexander and Jose Alon disappeared, they reappeared.
Today, a Kremlin-controlled TV channel, Russia aired a “interview” of a performance that revealed two former Colombian soldiers held in Moscow. The title is “Inevitable Punishment.”
In the video, José Aron appears handcuffs and flanking from a cell.
Alexander shuddered and avoided the camera’s gaze, and he recognized himself.
This promotional video regrets Ukraine’s time and provides a brief hope for the family.
Yes, they were detained, looked weak and coerced, but at least they were still alive.
But the relief quickly turned into a nightmare. This is the first and last life certificate their family has received.
Since then, neither family has managed to contact these people or speak with lawyers appointed by Russian courts. This is a silent, inevitable tunnel.
Why are these two Colombians detained? What happened in the month and a half of their disappearance? How did they end up going from Caracas Airport to the Moscow Prison? What might their kidnapping mean on the global stage?
Venezuela and Russia maintained diplomatic silence. RT claims Russian intelligence occupied the men without specifying where.
Otilia Ante goes through every picture of her son – Fermin Torrano
Colombian Ambassador to Russia Héctor Arenas Neira, interviewed by the telegraph, admitted that he did not know how they arrived in Moscow and avoided comments on violations of international law and Colombian sovereignty.
The only certainty is that Alexander and Alexander and José Aron landed in Venezuela on an Ultra Airline flight higher than Latin America after signing a contract with the Ukrainian army.
Neither their arrest nor extrajudicial transfer was officially issued, but Venezuela’s fraudulent election was only a few days later.
Maduro may have found a gift among the two Colombians to support Russia before taking power.
Mr. Neila said Alexander and Alexander and José Aron are now serving in “remand” for half a year and face 12 to 18 years in prison for “being a mercenary.”
“Russia could call them mercenaries, but they still have the right to maintain. And it would have been worse if there were no active combatants at the time.
“You might argue that they put their arms down and just went home…In this case, international humanitarian law gives them special protection.”
The Colombian authorities have not put pressure on Venezuela or Russia, and the Moscow consulate has made only one visit in the past six months.
Their defense was handled by a public defender who did not speak Spanish, a lawyer elected by the Russian state, which kidnapped thousands of them from their jurisdiction on charges that it was difficult to justify. mile.
“Russia claims they were arrested in Moscow,” Mr. Nila told the Telegraph. “How did they get to Moscow? I don’t know.”
He said he did not intend to investigate or complain. “I’m not here to judge or criticize the Russian judicial system.”
José Aron’s daughter Samara spent many hours alone and she hopes to see her father again will soon be reduced – Fermin Torrano
Under the Geneva Convention, international military volunteers in Ukraine should not be considered mercenaries because they have formal contracts with the Kiev army and responsibilities and salaries with other regular soldiers.
What makes the case of Alexander and Alexander and José Aron different is that they are third country combatants who have nothing to do with war.
This marks Putin crossing another red line, and a clear message from the Russian autocrats: No one is immune to the Kremlin’s mastery.
what to do? Mr. USCátegui’s team filed a complaint of enforced disappearance in December with the International Criminal Court.
It is well known that such crimes are difficult to prosecute because it requires evidence of systematic attacks on specific civilians.
To strengthen the case, complaints include other Colombians who disappeared after crossing Venezuela.
However, official indifference remains the biggest obstacle to establishing the political pressure needed to release.
“I want to talk to that man. I vote for him!” Otilia exclaimed, her voice trembling as she talked about Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“He’s from El Tambo. A country boy, like us. He was once as poor as me, and God gave him the gift of being president,” she said.
Alexander’s mother prays that he will visit the Gallic Valley one day. She imagined wrapping the Colombian flag “like a dress” around her and throwing her feet away in the street.
Cielo is not very optimistic. “If our president was another man…but this used to be a guerrilla,” she sighed as her daughter reached for her phone as she struggled to get her father.
“My husband and Alexander are retired Colombian soldiers; they fight for our country. Why didn’t he help them? However, for another guerrilla, he sent a letter asking for extradition.”
She refers to the request of the U.S. Columbia Embassy to release Simón Trinidad, a former commander of the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces, to 60 years in a U.S. prison.
“False neutrality”
Officials’ appeal to the “humanitarian spirit” defended the demand on November 25, a rhetoric used by the Trump administration in urging the Trump administration to show dignity in deportation of immigrants.
However, there was no call for Alexander or Jose Aaron.
For six months, the diplomatic corps in Colombia have remained silent. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said nothing. Peter said nothing. No action was taken to ensure one’s freedom.
The president’s proposal to Russia is well known. Initially, he refused to send Soviet-era weapons and helicopters to Ukraine in exchange for our replacement, and he never condemned Putin’s invasion.
His only protest came after a pizzeria attack in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk in the summer of 2023, killing 13 people and injuring 61 people – including 3 Colombian civilians: former politicians and philosophers Sergio Jaramillo, writer and journalist Héctor Abad and journalist Héctor Abad Abad.
“In this radical left-wing government, there is an ideological agenda. They are unwilling to act, all in the name of false neutrality,” Mr. Uscátegui said.
But, “Honestly, Colombia is already trying to justify them, but rather is struggling with more than 13,000 violent killings, 4,000 missing, 90 massacres and 138 murdered social leaders every year. When we think of it, When people abroad, this is the reality we face at home.”
