Colombian cartels sending fighters to Ukraine to learn drone warfare

Colombian criminal organizations and rebel groups have been sending their fighters to Ukraine under the guise of volunteers in order to acquire advanced drone combat skills.

This emerges from an investigation by the Financial Times published on Thursday.

A Colombian soldier fighting with Ukrainian forces identified among his compatriots seeking to join as volunteers individuals connected to criminal organizations back home. Taras Palyanytsia, an officer at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s foreign volunteer recruitment center, told the outlet that once such connections were identified, those individuals were screened out and sent home.

Colombia’s internal drone crisis

The recruitment attempts are taking place against a backdrop of a sharp rise in armed drone attacks inside the country. According to Colombia’s Defense Ministry, illegal armed groups carried out 264 drone attacks in 2024–2025, killing 15 military personnel and wounding another 153. The conflict monitoring organization ACLED recorded an even steeper increase — 38 attacks in 2024 and 149 in 2025, compared to just one such attack in 2023.

Colombia’s outgoing defense minister Pedro Sánchez, in an interview with the Financial Times, described the situation as “a serious challenge to air superiority on the battlefield.”

“The drone industry is experiencing explosive growth, and criminals have adapted this technology for attacks,” Sánchez said.

Criminal groups are specifically seeking specialists in FPV drones and fiber-optic-based control systems developed during combat operations in Ukraine. A Colombian drone operator fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region told the Financial Times:

“FPV drones are already beginning to be used in Colombia, but local operators don’t yet know how to encrypt the communication between the drone and the pilot, or how to properly attach an explosive charge — the way it’s done here in Ukraine.”

From battlefields to airports

The threat has spread beyond rural conflict zones. In April and May 2026, Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport suspended operations at least three times following drone sightings. On May 6, police neutralized a drone carrying explosives found approximately 5.4 kilometers from the airport. In July, an attack was carried out on the airport in Tibú — marking a further escalation of strikes on aviation infrastructure.

In January, Colombia announced plans to create a “counter-drone defense system” worth approximately €1.4 billion, approving around €234.6 million for the first phase. However, experts warn that technology alone will not be enough. Elizabeth Dickinson, deputy director for Latin America at the International Crisis Group, said:

“The number of drones at these groups’ disposal could very well overwhelm any military or civilian target.”

Colombia’s president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella, whose inauguration is scheduled for August 7, has pledged to pursue a tough security policy. Following a recent drone attack on military personnel, he stated that his administration would focus on “restoring state authority in the areas most affected by violence.” He inherits a conflict in which around 500 Colombians fighting in Ukraine have been killed over four years — and the skills some of them bring home may prove just as dangerous as the weapons themselves.