Ukraine's "volunteer" army

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier this month that 16,000 foreigners had traveled to his country to fight Russian forces. A few days later, the volunteer ranks were estimated at 20,000, Ukrainian Brigadier General Kyrylo Budanov told CNN.

[...]

“I need only one motivation … to save people and save civilians,” [Commander Mamuka] Mamulashvili, who leads around 700 [foreign volunteer] soldiers in the Georgian Legion.

[...]

“I don’t want bloodthirsty guys who want to come and just shoot somebody.”

Mamulashvili has been weeding out recruits with radical views or with ties to right-wing organizations: “We are avoiding extremists — we don’t want them here.”

[...]

Mamulashvili commands professional soldiers from dozens of countries, the bulk of which come from the United States, United Kingdom and his native Georgia — which has also been invaded by Russia [in the past].

  Politico

Georgian Legion [...] has been recruiting and training battalions in Ukraine since April 2014, just weeks after Russia started its annexation of Crimea.

[...]

Mamulashvili says one thing that’s changed during the past eight years of combat is the pounding from above.

“It’s airstrikes — permanent airstrikes and ballistic missiles that are shelling us all the time,” he said, adding a no-fly zone could “save a lot of lives.”

“Now, while I’m talking with you, I hear heavy shelling. This shelling is not just a sound — it is the lives of children, women and mostly the civilian population. … Bombs are falling on our heads, and we can do nothing.”

[...]

[Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky] established another international legion shortly after last month’s Russian invasion.

Cpl. Damien Magrou, a spokesperson for the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, says his fighting force is made of a large contingent of British, American and Polish volunteers [as well as several other countries].

[...]

When it comes to qualifications, Magrou said a military background on its own isn’t good enough. The legion is looking for foreign fighters with live combat experience.

“What we want is for people to come that have already been in the line of fire,” he said.

[...]

Magrou says U.S. volunteers tend to have backgrounds from a wide variety of conflict zones — everything from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya as well as fighters with private contractor experience in Africa.

For many of the recruits from Central and Eastern Europe, he said the fight is personal — they’re going to the front lines to defend the region, not just Ukraine.

[...]

At the Georgian Legion, Mamulashvili said only professional soldiers are accepted. Most receive an AK assault rifle and, for those who know how to use them, anti-tank weapons.

I hope they can be trusted.

US volunteers in Ukraine

They were told not to go, and I understand the problem should they be captured by Russians, but I also understand the desire to go. Maybe if we gave the Ukrainians the weapons they're asking for US volunteers wouldn't be needed.

US volunteers have been seen in video footage from the frontlines in Ukraine, suggesting that the international legion fighting alongside the Ukrainian army is playing an increasingly active role.

Two video clips featuring US fighters appeared on Twitter on Thursday: one showing an American in combat gear posing in front of the burnt remains of what he said was a Russian tank. Off camera, a Ukrainian shouts “Welcome to America!” and the American repeats the phrase.

[...]

The first video was posted by James Vasquez, a US army veteran and building contractor from Connecticut, who, according to his Twitter feed, arrived in Poland on 15 March and crossed into Ukraine the next day, bringing with him several surveillance drones. He was sent to the frontlines from Lviv on 18 March.

“I kind of feel like I’m on an awesome very dangerous vacation,” he said. And in another tweet: “When I need to amp myself up for battle, I just think about the most punchable face on the planet … Tucker Carlson.”

  The Guardian

It won't seem like much of a vacation if he gets captured.

“They are … shocked to see an American passport when I hit checkpoints,” he said. “They let me right through because they think it’s awesome an American soldier is here to fight alongside them.”

Best of luck, pal.

In his account of Thursday’s battle for a village he does not name, Vasquez said he was tasked to “find a pack of Russians spotted hiding by civilians” and he used a drone to try to spot them.

A few hours later, he tweeted: “Just went through six straight hours of combat. I have crazy video I’ll post later. 2 men were shot but will be OK. One fatality.”

Maybe don't post video, or even talk about, any place that might be identified.

Initial accounts of the international legion suggested that the foreign volunteers were a mixed bag, many with no experience. The military news website Task&Purpose reported there was “a swarm of Fantasists for every one candidate with experience in combat”.

“Selection apparently follows no discernible process other than separating those that don’t have military experience from those that do. The former are put through a four-week training course – the latter are given a weapon and sent to the front in ad-hoc units with a Ukrainian officer,” the report from Ukraine said.

I bet you there are Irish volunteers there.