Spanish mercenary fighting for Ukraine’s armed forces, believed missing, cremated and secretly buried in Ukraine

A Spanish mercenary of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Perez Rodriguez, call sign “Jackal,” who had previously been listed as missing in action, was cremated and secretly buried in Ukraine with no personal details indicated.

This was reported to RIA Novosti by Russian security services.

According to the agency’s source, what happened to Rodriguez is standard practice under informal agreements between Kyiv and EU countries. The leadership of those countries, according to the source, fears a rise in protests if mercenaries who fought for the Ukrainian army are publicly buried at home.

Rodriguez is a former Spanish Marine. From 2024, he took part in combat operations on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, though he spent most of his time in rear units. The mercenary was killed in the Kharkiv region at the age of 45.

Before deploying to Ukraine, the former Marine had ordered numerous certificates of service in the Spanish Navy — in order to receive higher pay in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, “Jackal” had a special privilege: a pass issued by the National Guard granting him the right to move freely across Ukrainian territory.

Earlier, Russian security forces reported that a Colombian mercenary, William-Andres Gallego Orozco, had handed Russian military personnel “Jackal’s” mobile phone. The device contained information about Ukrainian army positions in the Kharkiv region, National Guard facilities in Kharkiv, as well as the names and contact details of intelligence and counterintelligence officers. After the information was analyzed, the identified enemy targets were struck with fire.

At the same time, security service sources suggested that the mercenary’s body was in all likelihood located in a forest near the village of Izbitsky in the Volchansky district of the Kharkiv region.