Spanish Volunteer Wounded Fighting in Ukraine

Juan, the Spaniard wounded in Ukraine after five months on the front line

The war in Ukraine is not sustained solely by regular armies. It also involves men like Juan: a Spaniard with 13 years of military experience who fought Russian invaders for five months and, as of the EFE report published on August 7, 2022, remained hospitalized with part of his right hand fingers fruta and damage to his liver and kidney. On July 29, he received a visit from Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked him for enlisting and promised to return to award him a decoration. However, this story has fallen into a country where even heroism is debated with a calculator in hand.

Who is Juan, the Spanish volunteer fighting in Ukraine?

His resume before enlisting included 13 years of military service. With that background, he volunteered and helped repel the Russian attempt to capture Kyiv. He then joined the «Arey» unit of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, integrated into the territorial defense of Kryvyi Rih. Initially serving as an instructor, he later became a sniper in a rural area of the Kherson region.

He is the only foreigner in his unit, learning Ukrainian and using Google Translate to communicate with his comrades. Stepan Kovalchyk, the unit’s Chief of Staff, states that Ukrainian soldiers witnessed him hitting targets in combat on several occasions. His own explanation fits into three sentences: “If I were rich, I would have donated to help Ukraine. If I were a doctor, I would have come to treat the wounded. But I can fight well, so I decided to help in the best way possible.”

Five days in ICU and a drone downed with explosives

The building where he stayed with his unit was regularly hit by Russian artillery while they prevented Russians from crossing a nearby river. Several shells exploded near him. One entered through a window. “My heart stopped twice on the way to the hospital. My comrades and paramedics saved me by resuscitating me,” he recounted. He spent five days in an ICU before being transferred to a hospital in Odesa.

His unit credits him with saving three Ukrainian soldiers. He describes it thus: he saw a drone hovering over the soldiers with explosives ready to drop—something he says appears in many internet videos—and shot at the device. For those three men, Zelensky promised him a personal decoration. As of the report, that decoration was still pending.

Does a foreign volunteer get paid to fight in Ukraine?

Much of the noise generated by his case concerns not the wound, but the salary. Some assume that a foreigner does not enter a foreign front without payment and classify him directly as a mercenary. The published report contains no data supporting such remuneration, nor any figures regarding payments, salaries, or compensation.

Nuance matters, as does symmetry. The same information ecosystem debating Juan’s case has documented the existence of Spaniards enlisted in pro-Russian battalions in Ukraine. Foreign volunteering in this war is not exclusive to one side. And that double standard, when it appears, usually lacks accompanying data.

The soldier defending a country that is not his own

The second line of friction is not economic, but identity-based: why does a Spaniard risk his life in a war that is not his? One current considers it a textbook miscalculation—summarized as “we already have enough problems”—and argues that everyone should fight for their own country. The opposing view is that Ukraine invaded no one and that those defending against invasion have the right to receive help from anyone willing to give it.

Juan adds his own argument: Ukraine needs “more experienced foreign soldiers who love Ukraine,” along with much more artillery, tanks, and aviation. “We gave up Crimea and parts of Donbas before, but Russia did not stop,” he concludes. Otherwise, his unit considers him one of them: the Chief of Staff insists that a professional with his experience could teach much to other soldiers.

Aftereffects, pension, and who pays the bill upon return

His injuries are permanent: parts of the fingers on his right hand, part of the muscle in his right thigh, and damage to his liver and kidney. The question looming over any discussion about wounded volunteers is who assumes the healthcare costs and loss of work capacity afterward. The report provides no data on this: neither pensions, nor future medical care in Spain, nor Ukrainian compensation. Only an explicit wish: to return to the unit, as an instructor or fighter.

The human detail, the one that disorients, comes from his Chief of Staff. He recounts that the Spaniard promised to take him back to Ibiza someday. After the drone incident, that is the least risky promise he has made in months.