"The Bundeswehr is a lot more professional than the Ukrainian Army. One can criticize the German military for many things, but command in Germany is run at a very high level," Bundeswehr vet Jonas Kratzenberg, who completed four years of service with the German Army, including service in Afghanistan, before volunteering to fight in Ukraine in 2022, told media in a piece published Wednesday.
"The International Legion treated us volunteers much worse. Many of us were poorly paid or not paid at all. It was hard for us to defend ourselves because we could not speak Russian or Ukrainian. However, my unit was not wiped out. After the first losses, we were mostly sent to areas that were less dangerous. But I also saw footage of a commander who saw volunteers only as cannon fodder," Kratzenberg said.
“This was s***. You know, this happens in every army and in every war", he noted. "But purely on the human level, it’s dirty. I know that one of the two cases was later investigated. But I do not know what the consequences were."
"For example, when I was in the hospital, I was told that it did not have an MRI machine. After a long discussion, the device suddenly came into existence," he said. On the battlefield too, the German said, he would meet people who introduced themselves as special forces troops or snipers but actually never served. "Many of their superiors also wanted to cover up their own mistakes with lies. One even broke away from us and stole one of my guns."