Introducing: Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in Ukraine
Call Sign Condor: Latino Soldiers Fighting in UkraineShow Notes
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.
ABOUT THE HOST:
Carolina Chimoy is an international correspondent at DW’s headquarters in Berlin, currently covering the war in Ukraine. She previously served as DW’s U.S. correspondent in Washington, D.C., reporting on the White House, national security, and transatlantic relations.
Over the course of her career, Carolina has reported extensively from across Latin America, covering presidential elections in Brazil, Peru and Bolivia, as well as major political developments in the region.
For this podcast, after realizing just how many Latinos have come to fight in this war in Ukraine, Carolina has immersed herself in the world of these soldiers. She’s observed not only how they live with a war that is not their own, but also how they have adapted to Ukrainian society, its climate and its culture.
Through Condor and other soldiers’ personal stories, she takes us into the reality of the trenches, but also into deeply human moments of relief and even happiness each has found. At the same time, she shows how these soldiers are also changing the lives of Ukrainians in their own country.
More from 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.
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”.
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.
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.