Volunteers from 52 nations have already applied to join the newly-created Ukrainian Foreign Legion, so they can go to Ukraine and fight Russian Federation (RF) forces, a Defense Ministry spokeswoman said in a Saturday statement.
Deputy Defense Minister Anna Malyar said the unit’s formal name is the International Legion of Defenders of Ukraine (ILDU). The formation is currently processing thousands of potential volunteers for acceptance, she said.
A video posted by Malyar showed images of a man identified as a newly-accepted legionnaire from Norway.
“When you see how daily bombs and rockets fall on Ukrainian cities, destroying hospitals, schools, houses, it’s hard to accept, it looks crazy. You see what is happening and it seems you can’t do anything. When the creation of the international legion began, I immediately knew that I had to join him,” the man said. He nom de guerre was Damien.
The statement said Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and Foreign Ministry together have received more than 20,000 applications from people wanting to join the unit. Ukraine Armed Forces command (UAF) has not made public the likely size of the unit, what its equipment or missions might be, or when the formation might be committed to combat.
Malyar said that volunteers were most frequent from former Soviet republics bordering Ukraine, Poland, the Baltic countries, Scandinavia, Great Britain and the USA.
The statement said the unit will be a full-fledged unit of the UAF and that legionnaires will be directly employed, and paid by, the Defense Ministry.
Ukrainian news reports have claimed that legionnaires completing a tour of duty will be able to receive Ukrainian citizenship. Ukraine government officials have said the idea is being considered.
