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“They fought in Afghanistan or Iraq and claim not to be ready”Polak says of his fellow Westerners, who fight alongside him in the foreign troops in Ukraine.
Interviewed by AFP in the cafeteria of a supermarket in Kramatorsk in Donbas (east), this very young man estimates at “perhaps a few hundred” the number of fighters who have come from various countries to fight for Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
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AFP decided not to reveal his nationality to preserve his anonymity.
“Honestly, we have a lot of cowards,” launches this volunteer, who is part of the Legion International for the defense of Ukraine (LIDU) and provides a rare witness from the inside.
“Sometimes after the first combats they say ‘we are not prepared for this’ and return home,” explains the legionnaire, who says he changes missions regularly.
“Before I had been appointed lifeguard. But in fact I am not a lifeguard, ”she laments.
According to this man, there is a bit of everything in the LIDU ranks, “Canadians, Georgians, Croats”, who were not trained for an artillery war.
The “worst” war
“Elon Musk, if you hear me, we need help!” a former member of the US armed forces in Kharkiv (south) launched on Friday, addressing the CEO of Tesla Motors during a press conference.
A Dutchman, a Frenchman, a German and an Australian have already died in combat, according to LIDU, which did not specify the date or the circumstances.
For its part, in early June, Russia claimed to have killed “hundreds” of foreign fighters in Ukraine since the start of its invasion on February 24, and which slowed the flow of new arrivals.
LIDU spokesman, Frenchman Damien Magrou, 33, acknowledges that these fighters, often from NATO countries, are surprised by the harshness of the clashes.
“An American who was in six wars told me it was the worst he had ever seen,” he explains. “Missiles, bombings: the terrain is very different.”
As a result of this, between 10 and 30% of those recruited return to civilian life as soon as they land on the battlefield, according to Magrou, despite the fact that experience in handling weapons is required from the beginning.
“Almost all of them are ex-soldiers, a third of them come from an Anglo-Saxon country,” details the corporal. The language of communication is English.
Then there are the citizens of Central and Eastern Europe, for whom the motivations are sometimes different.
“The Americans fight for freedom and Western values, while the Poles claim that defending Ukraine it is also defending their country”, he explains.
Although they all signed a contract with the Ukrainian army, they are free to leave whenever they want.
“I wanted to come here when I saw the images on television,” says Mika, a German interviewed by AFP in Kharkov.
“Since I was in the military, I thought I could help. If we don’t stop the aggressor in Ukraineis going to invade one country after another,” he adds.
Few women
Their legal situation varies depending on their country of origin, and some “are at risk of criminal charges, for example in Italy or South Korea, warns Magrou.
His personal case is a little different: employed by a large law firm in kyiv for two years, he was on “military availability” and the war came to him.
In LIDU queues, women are underrepresented and during Day International Women’s Legionnaires managed to find flowers and chocolate for a Norwegian fighter at the front in Irpin.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
