Meeting the foreign volunteers fighting for Ukraine

DW (English)

Volunteers from all over the world have enlisted in Ukraine's armed forces. DW’s Mathias Bölinger met volunteer soldiers from Germany, Australia and Finland who'd just come back from the frontlines.

Transcript

00:00 target practice, keeping skills sharp well away from the front line, rest, resupply and

00:10 a bit of relaxation.

00:13 The International Legion has been part of the Ukrainian army since the beginning of

00:17 Russia's full-scale invasion.

00:19 We are just a simple unit, normal unit, just some foreigners and work together with the

00:25 Ukrainians.

00:26 Max Eberhard had two years' experience in the German army.

00:30 He came to Ukraine just weeks after the war started.

00:33 I never thought there would be a war in Europe again.

00:36 I didn't really have better things to do back home, like a boring job.

00:42 I wanted to help people, and Zelensky asked, so I came here.

00:48 Three days into the war, the Ukrainian president called for friends of peace and democracy

00:52 to help defend his country.

00:56 It was a message that hit home for Finnish volunteer callsign Hobbit.

01:02 It kind of stuck with me that Europe didn't do enough.

01:07 I remember when we had the war, we got volunteers, so I was like, well, at least I can do that.

01:20 Hobbit was referring to the Finno-Soviet war of the 1930s.

01:24 Many here bring their nation's historical experience with them.

01:29 Volunteers from more than 60 countries have taken up arms on behalf of Ukraine.

01:33 Some only stay for a few weeks or months.

01:36 They fight side by side with the Ukrainians, but international fighters can leave and go

01:41 home if they want to.

01:43 That makes a difference, says Caleb List.

01:47 When you go to a Ukrainian unit, you notice the whole place is clean.

01:52 They have people who cook and just set up, and it's nice.

01:56 So when you come off mission, the place is nice.

01:59 It's spotless.

02:01 With the Legion, because they're new, and people leave and come back, they remake a

02:09 lot of the mistakes.

02:10 So the place is sometimes dirty, it's not as well organized, they'll leave stuff behind.

02:15 Caleb List is from Australia.

02:18 He had no military experience when he joined up a year ago, but is now a platoon commander.

02:26 He says he was about to join the French Foreign Legion when Russia invaded Ukraine, so he

02:31 changed plans.

02:33 Adventure, he says, was part of his motivation.

02:38 I wanted to test myself.

02:39 I wanted to, like, again, I wanted to join the French Foreign Legion.

02:43 I wanted to push myself to the extreme.

02:45 So I came here with the same motivation, and I've basically done that.

02:51 And now I just do this because that's the only thing I'm really good at.

02:58 Here away from the front, things are a bit more relaxed.

03:06 The Legion has been fighting under Ukrainian command in the Kharkiv offensive and towards

03:11 Bakhmut, although Hobbit has his own only half-joking description of their most important

03:19 contribution to the war.

03:22 To die or get wounded every couple of months, so the West keeps having Ukraine in the headlines

03:29 and giving support.

03:32 I mean, we don't intend to do it, but I think in the end it turns out to be the, how do

03:41 you say, biggest impact we can have.

03:49 Assuming they don't make that kind of impact, all three men say they have no plans to return

03:56 to normal civilian life.

03:58 (dog panting)

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