A classified intelligence document has set off alarm bells across the Western alliance. Military.com reports that a memo compiled for Five Eyes intelligence agencies concluded with "strong confidence" that Russia recruited American and other Western veterans to train Russian citizens and active-duty military personnel via a private European combat camp.

The document was prepared for the Australian Secret Intelligence Service. It drew on interviews with two former Australian special forces operatives and a serving reservist who said they were approached about instructor roles at training camps in Bulgaria and Serbia whose clients included Russian nationals, according to Yahoo News.

The Camp at the Center of the Storm

The facility named in the memo is Alfa-Metal, a combat training company operating a camp in Mejdeni, northern Bulgaria. According to the intelligence assessment, instructors there came from "a wide variety of backgrounds" — including US Navy SEALs, US police forces, Britain's Special Air Service, and the Australian Commando Regiment, SFG Media reports.

The center offers special-operations-level training and advanced sniper courses for roughly €4,000 per person, targeting prospective private military contractors, bodyguards, and corporate security personnel. Its own website had displayed the SAS insignia on an instructor page. The company also advertised for an experienced SAS veteran to join its team, according to YourNews.

One American listed among its instructors reportedly served 12 years with US Army Special Operations Command, New Voice of Ukraine reports.

The Denials Are Categorical — and Complicated

Alfa-Metal has pushed back hard. The company told Military.com the allegations are "false" and told The Telegraph it had "never employed" an SAS veteran and had not trained Russian nationals since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

The picture grew murkier, however, when the company acknowledged "historical professional contacts" with Alfa Region — a private security firm based in St. Petersburg — only after The Telegraph questioned it about content on its own website, United24 Media reports. Alfa Region has promoted the Bulgarian training center and advertised courses involving instructors with experience in US, Russian, Israeli, and other special forces and police units.

Former Australian operatives interviewed for the memo said camp employees told them Russian nationals were still being trained at the facility as of 2025, according to Military.com.

Russia's Broader Recruitment Machine

The training camp allegations are one strand of a far larger web. Ukrainian intelligence officials say at least 18 Americans have enlisted directly in Russia's military, lured by a $26,000 signing bonus and approximately $2,000 a month in salary, National Security Journal reports.

Recruiters use Facebook, TikTok, and Telegram to target Americans they see as financially vulnerable, ideologically motivated, or both. Each recruiter reportedly earns around $24,000 per head, plus a cut of the recruit's ongoing salary, Yahoo News reports. Ukrainian officials believe the total number of foreign fighters in Russian uniform is nearly 29,000 — drawn from 135 countries.

Amnesty International documented cases where recruits were promised civilian work in construction or logistics, only to find military contracts waiting when they arrived in Russia. The organization said some of these practices amount to human trafficking, according to National Security Journal.

What Happens Next

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service is actively investigating the memo's findings. Results could be shared with the United Kingdom, the United States, and other Five Eyes partners, United24 Media reports.

For Americans who went in expecting a paycheck, the reality has often been grim. Survivors report equipment costs deducted from their wages, extortion by Russian officers, and abuse from the soldiers beside them, National Security Journal reports. Russia, meanwhile, uses American participants in state propaganda — parading them on television as proof that ordinary Americans back Moscow's cause.

The war in Ukraine has produced an estimated 1.25 to 2 million combined casualties since the invasion began. The question of which side American veterans are truly serving — and whether some ever knew the answer — now sits on the desks of intelligence chiefs across four continents.