Thursday, March 28

This is what Ukraine asks of volunteers for its foreign legion


More of 20,000 foreigners have already offered to join the Territorial Defense Legion that Ukraine launched just three days after the start of the Russian invasion of the country. The Ukrainian Government seeks to swell its ranks to face the military challenge posed by Vladimir Putinbut the risks that this may entail in the future should not be underestimated, according to experts.

The Ukrainian government has even launched a web page where all the instructions relevant to those who want to join Ukraine in its “struggle for peace and democracy in Europe” and those who have “combat experience or want to win it together with the brave Ukrainian defenders”.

  • The main recommendation that is made is that they put into Contact the Embassy of Ukraine in their respective countries, which will be in charge of processing the documentation and application.

  • It will also be the Embassy that will provide them with the instructions on how to travel to Ukraine and the point where they will be picked up.

  • In addition, the elect are advised to carry their own material, such as helmets and bulletproof vests, if they have it.

Actually, it is not the first time that Ukraine has received foreign fighters to fight on its territory. Since the outbreak in 2014 of the conflict in the donbasin the east of the country, among the separatists of Donetsk and Lugansk supported by Russia and the Ukrainian government it is estimated that some 17,000 fighters from up to 55 countries have come to fight alongside both sides, some 15,000 of them from Russia.

Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria

The appeal now made by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, is also already attracting thousands of young people from all over the world and raises fears that Ukraine could become a magnet for foreign fighters as they were from 2014 Syria and Iraq and in their day Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion.

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In the latter case, the Asian country became the breeding ground for what would later become Al Qaeda and some of the most prominent jihadist terrorists of the following decades passed through it, including the Osama bin Laden. Syria and Iraq also attracted mainly jihadistsalthough there were also Westerners who went to fight against the forces fighting the Islamic State, such as the Kurds.

As far as Ukraine is concerned, among those who have been coming to fight on the Ukrainian side there have been largely far-right extremists and white supremacists. With this Legion, “Ukraine could once again be opening the door to extremists or radicalized individuals to travel to the country, train, become combat-hardened and expand their networks,” warns Elisabeth Goselin-Malo, an expert at the ‘think-tank ‘ Italian ISPI.

‘morning after’ problem

This poses such a problem for Ukraine, that it will be difficult to control them once the conflict is over, which “could lead to a potential increase in extremist activity in the country“, as well as for their countries of origin, since they will return “with greater influence not only to recruit and radicalize others, but also with greater capacities to resort to violence,” warns this expert.

However, it underlines the will of the Ukrainian Government to have increased control of the Foreign Legionwhich could prevent these fighters from being recruited by far-right groups already operating in the country, such as el Azov Battalion, dependent on the National Guard and the Ministry of the Interior and which operates in the city of Mariupolone of the most besieged today by Russian troops.

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In many cases, the enthusiasm of foreign fighters is not matched by their training and weaponry. “They are willing to fight and, in the case of the jihadists, to martyrdom but in general toadd little to combat power, especially in cases like Afghanistan in the 1980s and Ukraine today, where there is plenty of labor,” says Daniel L. Byman in an article for Brookings.

“Most end up as cannon fodder”, adds this expert, although in some cases these combatants are indeed qualified, since they are veterans of the special forces from countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom, and therefore “may be more useful.”

Foreign fighters (known as ‘foreign fighters’) usually end up gaining experience after their arrival, hence why they are generally more useful in cases of insurgency, as it seems that there will be in Ukraine. “In conflicts of warfarethe dedication of the foreigners is vital and their lower firepower is less of a handicap,” emphasizes Byman. In any case, the first challenge these volunteers will face will be that of languagesince it is expected that few speak Ukrainian, which complicates communication and with it the problems when operating.

Increased violence against civilians

In addition, As Byman points out, it has been found that the involvement of foreign fighters often leads to an increase in civilian violence. This is explained, he stresses, because “they lack relatives and friends in the community in contrast to the nationals of the host country” so “they can commit atrocities without fear of reprisal against their loved ones.

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This greater propensity of foreign fighters to commit atrocities would also give new ammunition to Russia in its propaganda campaign in this conflict, particularly in the case of extreme right-wing or supremacist groups, since Putin has used as the main argument for his ” special operation” you want “denazify” Ukraine.

That is why, according to this expert, the best Ukraine can do is control them from the start. “If the foreign fighters go it alone, they may fight bravely but in the long run it could backfire,” she warns. “The conflict zone could lead idealistic foreigners to allow themselves to be indoctrinated with more radical ideologies: they go to face an enemy but mix with other radicals and become more radical and more interconnected,” she stresses.

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legal loophole

Furthermore, as Gosselin-Malo points out, the issue of the involvement of foreign fighters raises a dilemma about the legality of this gesture. “States have expressed a wide range of different positions, with some offering clear and strict guidelines and others more vague about their views on their citizens joining the war effort,” he explains. Regardless of what to do with these fighters upon their return to their country of origin, there is also the problem that their nationals may be taken as prisoners of war by Russia during the conflict.


www.elperiodico.com

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