Dominican national Juan Carlos Ávila Espaillat claims to be participating in operations on the Russian side of the war against Ukraine, according to videos and images posted on his public Instagram and Facebook accounts.
In the posts, Ávila Espaillat appears wearing camouflage military clothing, carrying firearms and accompanied by other men dressed in military gear. In one video, he says he is broadcasting “from Russia to the Dominican Republic” and identifies the person filming him as Colombian.
In another video, Ávila Espaillat describes what he calls a “successful rescue” operation to recover three fellow fighters. According to his account, two of them had already died while a third was evacuated alive.
Ávila Espaillat also claims that his group killed four opposing combatants during the operation. Those statements come from his own social media posts and have not been independently verified based on the available information.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, and the conflict remains active, with fighting particularly concentrated in eastern Ukraine and long-range attacks carried out by both sides.
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Russia has also recruited foreign nationals during the conflict to reinforce its forces. International reports have documented the participation of citizens from different countries, with some reportedly attracted by salaries, bonuses or immigration benefits, while other cases have involved alleged deception or pressure to join military service.
In Ávila Espaillat’s case, the posts on his own social media accounts show him with military equipment and weapons and contain his claims about operations on the Russian side. However, the posts alone do not establish his formal military status, the unit to which he may belong or independently verify the combat operations he describes.
