Ukraine has put its recruitment of foreign fighters on hold due to a lack of training, lack of firearms, and steps by some countries to strip volunteer fighters of their citizenship, a spokesperson for the so-called ‘International Legion’ of Ukraine’s territorial defence forces told Canada’s National Post newspaper.
“There are multiple reasons with one of them being the lack of firearms. Our parliament, Verkhovna Rada, would be voting this Friday on some positions (related to) the International Legion and based on that vote we would be able to proceed,” the spokesperson said.
Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a former Canadian Liberal Party lawmaker, told the paper that none of the fighters he’s interviewed have traveled to Ukraine yet because the Ukrainian defence ministry “put a pause on the mission” “several weeks ago.”
“There are all sorts of consequences if untrained people head in,” he stressed.
Wrzesnewskyj did not give a reason for the pause in the recruitment campaign. Russia carried out a massive cruise missile strike on the Yavoriv military training base in western Ukraine about three weeks ago on 13 March. The Russian MoD estimates that over 200 foreign fighters were killed and over 400 more injured in the strike.
After a month of fighting, a number of Westerners who volunteered to fight in Ukraine have left the country and gone on to post viral testimonials online relating to suspected Ukrainian war crimes, the presence of neo-Nazi and even jihadist fighters among their ranks, threats against their personal safety by Ukrainian commanders, and demands that they head to the front lines without proper weapons, ammunition and equipment.
This week, US Army vet and volunteer Henry Hoeft gave any fellow countrymen entertaining the idea of traveling to Ukraine to fight a stark warning, telling The Grayzone that the battles taking place in the country are unlike anything Americans have seen in recent decades, and nothing like the US romps through Iraq or Afghanistan, where it was the US side that enjoyed overwhelming air and precision missile superiority.