Post by Admin on May 4, 2022 17:21:17 GMT
A Ukrainian government website has identified eight of those countries as Britain, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Israel, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland.
Meet the foreign fighters joining Ukraine's battle with Russia | DW News
1,822,113 views May 3, 2022 In Ukraine, it’s not just Ukranians who fight. Thousands of people from abroad have joined the battle. Who are they? And why are they risking their lives? Our reporter meets two men from Latin America who are heading to Ukraine to serve in the armed forces. She accompanies them on their journey. Both men are fully aware that this might be a one-way trip, but they’re convinced it’s worth the risk.
Three more countries, Norway, Finland and the United States, were named in a Monday report by independent Ukrainian news site LIGA.net. The news site said it obtained the information from Damien Magrou, a Norwegian spokesman for the international legion, who had been working as an attorney for Ukrainian law firm Asters before the invasion.
The LIGA.net report cited Anton Myronovych, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Army Academy, as telling the news outlet that the legion also has fighters from Australia and South America.
A Ukrainian Embassy official in Washington told VOA earlier this month that 3,000 Americans were among the applicants for the international legion. The official said most of the others were from post-Soviet states such as Georgia and Belarus.
VOA cannot independently confirm the Ukrainian legion’s size or composition. Multiple reports have said an unknown number of foreigners seeking to fight alongside Ukrainian forces also have crossed into the country without going through its procedures for enlisting in the legion.
Among the pro-Ukraine fighters involved in the war are Russian and Belarusian citizens who have been helping to defend Ukraine for years.
They include exiled fighters from the Russian republic of Chechnya who have opposed Moscow since it crushed their separatist campaign in Chechnya after two wars in the 1990s and 2000s.
Chechen fighters have been in Ukraine since 2014, resisting Russian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, according to Britain-based Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev. The Chechen fighters have not disclosed their numbers.
Exiled Belarusian fighters opposed to Russia and its close ally, longtime Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, also have been active in Ukraine’s defense since 2014, according to independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva.
Earlier this month, the fighters — whose “Kastus Kalinouski” battalion is named after a 19th century Belarusian nationalist — posted images on Telegram channel @belwarrior, showing themselves helping their Ukrainian allies in the current war. Lithuania-based exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya tweeted a video of the battalion on March 13.
Meet the foreign fighters joining Ukraine's battle with Russia | DW News
1,822,113 views May 3, 2022 In Ukraine, it’s not just Ukranians who fight. Thousands of people from abroad have joined the battle. Who are they? And why are they risking their lives? Our reporter meets two men from Latin America who are heading to Ukraine to serve in the armed forces. She accompanies them on their journey. Both men are fully aware that this might be a one-way trip, but they’re convinced it’s worth the risk.
Three more countries, Norway, Finland and the United States, were named in a Monday report by independent Ukrainian news site LIGA.net. The news site said it obtained the information from Damien Magrou, a Norwegian spokesman for the international legion, who had been working as an attorney for Ukrainian law firm Asters before the invasion.
The LIGA.net report cited Anton Myronovych, a spokesman for Ukraine’s National Army Academy, as telling the news outlet that the legion also has fighters from Australia and South America.
A Ukrainian Embassy official in Washington told VOA earlier this month that 3,000 Americans were among the applicants for the international legion. The official said most of the others were from post-Soviet states such as Georgia and Belarus.
VOA cannot independently confirm the Ukrainian legion’s size or composition. Multiple reports have said an unknown number of foreigners seeking to fight alongside Ukrainian forces also have crossed into the country without going through its procedures for enlisting in the legion.
Among the pro-Ukraine fighters involved in the war are Russian and Belarusian citizens who have been helping to defend Ukraine for years.
They include exiled fighters from the Russian republic of Chechnya who have opposed Moscow since it crushed their separatist campaign in Chechnya after two wars in the 1990s and 2000s.
Chechen fighters have been in Ukraine since 2014, resisting Russian forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, according to Britain-based Chechen separatist leader Akhmed Zakayev. The Chechen fighters have not disclosed their numbers.
Exiled Belarusian fighters opposed to Russia and its close ally, longtime Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, also have been active in Ukraine’s defense since 2014, according to independent Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva.
Earlier this month, the fighters — whose “Kastus Kalinouski” battalion is named after a 19th century Belarusian nationalist — posted images on Telegram channel @belwarrior, showing themselves helping their Ukrainian allies in the current war. Lithuania-based exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya tweeted a video of the battalion on March 13.