Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine

There are many reasons Latin American soldiers have joined Ukraine’s fight against Russia. Money is one. Soldiers earn a decent salary, especially in the trenches. But, for many, the reasons go far beyond financial motives.

Some are searching for a future, a better life. Others are looking for respect, admiration, and a way to escape the realities of life in Latin America. For some, the reasons lie much further back, in their own pasts. In this final episode of Call Sign Condor, we learn what really brought our protagonist, Condor, to Ukraine.

Host: Carolina Chimoy

Panama does a favor for a fellow soldier and, inadvertently, meets a Ukrainian woman with whom he falls in love. As he gets to know her family, he becomes immersed in Ukrainian culture, language, and traditions.

Meanwhile, a translator develops deep bonds with the Latino soldiers he works with, and a commander with the Ukrainian army says he would be nothing without his Latino “Stormtroopers”. 

As the war drags on, a mutual respect and appreciation grows between the Ukrainian people and many of these men and women from Latin America. For the soldiers, Ukraine is no longer just a faraway place — it has become their home. And many soldiers say they want to remain in the country even after the war ends.

Host: Carolina Chimoy

Condor arrives in Ukraine knowing no one and unable to speak or read the language. Despite never having held a rifle before, he enlists in the Ukrainian army. He signs a contract, goes through his first military training, and heads to line zero: the frontline in eastern Ukraine, facing the enemy.

In this second episode of Call Sign Condor, our protagonist meets Panama, another Latin American soldier, in the trenches. Together, they share a brush with death, and experience the war in ways that will change their lives forever.

Host: Carolina Chimoy
 

We meet Condor, which is not his real name. It’s his military call sign. Condor was an IT specialist back home but, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he felt an unexplainable pull to join the fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers. It’s a decision that shocked his friends and his family. He’s now been in the country for three years, and even he still struggles sometimes to understand why he enlisted.  

Condor is among the thousands of Latin American soldiers who have joined Ukraine’s fight against Russia. He and his comrades spend weeks in the trenches, rifle in hand, prepared to kill — and to be killed. Their reasons for going vary, but through Condor’s story we gain insight into why these men and women leave everything behind, and travel to a country far away to fight in a war that is not their own. 

From LA Times Studios and DW, in collaboration with Futuro Studios, this four-part series is available in English and Spanish. 

To listen in Spanish: ​​https://pod.link/6808384868

Host: Carolina Chimoy
 

Why would someone decide to risk their life for a country that is not their own? What might they be searching for? Call Sign Condor is a podcast about the thousands of Latin American soldiers who are fighting in Ukraine — for Ukraine. Through the stories of our protagonist, Condor, and his fellow soldiers, this four-part series takes us inside the lives of Latin American men and women who’ve been fighting — some of them for years — in the war in Ukraine. Through their experiences of fear, loss, and belonging — even falling in love — host Carolina Chimoy explores what brought these soldiers to the front, how they’ve experienced the war, and what they've found there. From LA Times Studios and DW, in collaboration with Futuro Studios, Call Sign Condor launches September 23.