"Welcome to America" - The Ukrainian Foreign Legion
“Welcome to America." This is not a phrase one would expect to hear in Ukraine, especially considering the country is about five-thousand miles from the East Coast of the United States. It was, however, said by American Volunteers in a video showing the aftermath of a fight with a Russian tank.
Who are these Americans fighting for Ukraine? Well the first thing to clarify is that they're not just Americans. People from all over the world have joined a new unit of the Ukrainian armed forces, the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, known colloquially as the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. The idea is certainly not new though.
This village has been Russian occupied for a month, they terrorized the people and took their food. Today we entered, took out 7 tanks and countless Russians thus liberating these people pic.twitter.com/0Fm3qHdepB
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 24, 2022
Foreigners fighting in other people's wars is a tale as old as time. Whether it be hired German mercenaries in the American Revolution, George Orwell fighting in the Spanish Civil War, or the modern day French Foreign Legion.
Volunteers join for a variety of reasons. In an interview with Radio Free Asia, Chinese American Yi Qiwei described how and why he joined, “I originally came [to Europe] to dance [at] the Tomorrowland Winter music festival in France. I wanted to take advantage of the spring break to come out and have a good time.”
“I have had a dream of being a soldier since I was a child, so there's that. Secondly, I wanted to be able to come back alive and show my daughter her handsome father who has been on the battlefield” Qiwei said.
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 😞
— James Vasquez (@jmvasquez1974) March 24, 2022
Once he arrived in Ukraine, he described the visceral human impact of the war “A lot of the kids are around the same age as my daughter. They're so young, and they're sleeping in a train station, sleeping in McDonalds, and in such cold weather. It's really pitiful.” His idealistic view of war was shattered once experienced with his own eyes.
Volunteer Igor Gavrylko, a Ukrainian immigrant to Britain joined simply to defend his homeland, “He wants to rebuild the Soviet Union as part of a Russian empire. It’s no secret.”
Candidates should have combat experience, contact their local Ukrainian embassy, bring some of their own equipment, and be ready to sign a contract to formally enlist until martial law ends. The government created a clean and simple website that lays out the instructions, fightforua.org.
I can confirm that Alpha 1, a Ukrainian Foreign Legion team of multinational special operations soldiers, including American volunteers, took part in the liberation of Irpin. pic.twitter.com/IIUrwiWhIu
— Nolan Peterson (@nolanwpeterson) March 29, 2022
Over one month after the war’s start, are they making a difference? It’s hard to truly say what the effect would be if they were not there, and there is little evidence of some critical magic importance, but that's not how wars work. Every bit of manpower is important to the effort.
Like the French Foreign Legion, the Ukrainian Foreign Legion will likely be part of the common mythology and remembrance of the war.