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|February 9, 2022 – Ukrainian troops are bracing themselves for a Russian juggernaut. Joining them are 17,000 foreign fighters from 27 countries. Palki Sharma travelled to the headquarters of the Georgia National Legion which is training these fighters for war. Here’s a ground report.
March 9, 2022 – A friend of mine told me that he was off to Ukraine to do “his duty”. I thought it a good idea to record his reasons to go. Here is my interview with him as he waited to board his flight out.
April 10, 2022 – It’s been six weeks since the war in Ukraine began, with no sign of the conflict ending. The resistance in Ukraine has been fierce and just this week, Russian troops have been forced to retreat from the capital. The Western support in Ukraine includes the manpower of those from other nations. Thousands of foreigners have made their way there to help evacuate bombed-out cities, or to test themselves in combat. What drives some New Zealanders to go – against our government’s travel warnings – to a war zone? We meet the Kiwis picking up arms for someone else’s war.
April 18, 2022 – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia has begun an all-out offensive in the east. In his latest video, the Ukrainian leader said that the Russian military has begun the battle for the Donbas. Malcolm Nance, executive director of the Terror Asymmetrics Project, joins us from Ukraine, where he is fighting with the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.
May 2, 2022 – In Ukraine, it’s not just Ukrainians who fight. Thousands of people from abroad have joined the battle. Who are they? And why are they risking their lives?
Our reporter meets two men from Latin America who are heading to Ukraine to serve in the armed forces. She accompanies them on their journey. Both men are fully aware that this might be a one-way trip, but they’re convinced it’s worth the risk.
May 18, 2022 – Newsy’s Jason Bellini spoke with foreign fighters in Ukraine. They’re coming from all over the world with motives as varied as their backgrounds. Two young men in Kyiv — One from the U.S. and the other from the U.K. — are new wartime buddies at a crossroads, willing to share their story — one anonymously, the other using his real name
June 3, 2022 – Russian forces advanced deep into the ruined eastern factory city of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian troops were still holding out on Friday (June 3) as Russia’s assault on its neighbor entered its 100th day.
Members of Ukraine’s foreign legion arrived in Sievierodonetsk on Thursday (June 2) getting ready to join the battle. Zurab Kakalidze is a 22-year-old member of Ukraine’s foreign legion, which is made of foreign fighters who volunteer to come to Ukraine and fight against the Russians.
He said he felt he was on the right side of history. He and his fellow fighters were optimistic to see their families again and wanted to make sure the enemy would not, he added.
Ukraine’s defense minister said his troops were already training in Europe to operate new, advanced missile systems pledged this week by the United States and Britain, which Kyiv hopes will help swing the battle in its favor in coming weeks.
A war that Western countries believe Russia planned to win within hours has ground on for more than three months, with Moscow having been driven back from the capital but launching a huge new assault in the east.
The past weeks have seen Russia pour its forces into the battle for Sievierodonetsk, a small factory city in the east, which Russia must capture to achieve its stated aim of holding all of Luhansk province. Both sides have been taking punishing losses there in a street-by-street battle that could set the trajectory for a long war of attrition.
June 11, 2022 – The Carpathian Sich is a volunteer battalion that has been fighting in Ukraine since late February. About half the members come from other countries, and there are about 700 volunteers spread across Ukraine. The battalion is not a part of the Ukrainian military, but most volunteers say they do have at least some military experience.
June 21, 2022 – International Legion’s achievements in the Russo-Ukrainian war – Press briefing of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine in Kyiv, this date, June 21, 2022.
June 24, 2022 – Thousands of foreign fighters have joined Ukrainian armed forces since Russia invaded the country in February. BBC correspondent Olga Malchevska gained access to a secret training camp, the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, for those arriving in the country to fight.
September 15, 2022 – Newsy speaks again with a young American fighter who has now spent months in combat in Ukraine.
November 29, 2022 – CNN’s Matthew Chance reports from the Bakhmut region of Ukraine, where Russia and Ukraine are involved in a bitter ground battle for the crucial territory.
December 29, 2022 – Foreigners defending Ukraine at the call of the heart. The exact number of such foreign military in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not called.
According to unofficial data, these are tens of thousands of military personnel from 55 countries. They have participated in the battle for Kharkiv and in the de-occupation of several Ukrainian settlements. They are called the International Legion. Who are these people? And why did you decide to defend Ukraine?
The 2014 Russian war against Ukraine has seen a significant number of foreign fighters join both sides of the conflict. It had been estimated prior to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that there were approximately 17,000 foreign fighters in Ukraine.
Foreign fighters have travelled to fight in the conflict for a variety of reasons, such as far-left or far-right ideologues supporting their perceived ideological allies, religious and ethnic affinities, opposition to Russia or the West and those seeking to do so for “recreational” purposes.
Before February 2022, Russia had sought to obscure its direct involvement in the War in Donbas (and initially the annexation of Crimea) by stating its forces were foreign volunteers and unaffiliated with its official military forces.
The beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 caused a significant increase in the number of foreign fighters in the conflict. The Ukrainian government announced the establishment of an officially sanctioned international legion two days after the beginning of Putin’s “special military operation.”
Ukraine’s announcement of an International Legion was endorsed by some Western governments after ambiguous statements from officials, while Russian president Vladimir Putin publicly welcomed foreign fighters to join his forces.
The International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, is a foreign military unit of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine. It was created on February 27, 2022 by the Ukrainian government at the request of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to fight against the Russian invasion of the country.
In establishing this force, Ukraine joined more than 90 other nations that have recruited legionnaires and raised foreign legions over the past two centuries.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba claimed that by March 6, 2022 more than 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries had enlisted to fight for Ukraine. Several thousand more reportedly joined after the announcement.
Kuleba withheld further demographic details, because several nations forbid their citizens from fighting for foreign governments. As of November 2022, volunteers from 60 countries have joined the legion.
The Russo-Ukrainian War has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014.
Following Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine and supported pro-Russian separatists in the war in Donbas against Ukrainian government forces. Fighting for the first eight years of the conflict also included naval incidents, cyberwarfare, and heightened political tensions.
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In early 2014, pro-Russian Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from office as a result of the pro-European Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity.
Shortly after Yanukovych’s overthrow and exile to Russia, pro-Russian unrest erupted in Ukraine’s eastern and southern regions. Simultaneously, unmarked Russian troops moved into Ukraine’s Crimea and took control of strategic positions and infrastructure, including government buildings.
Russia soon annexed Crimea after a highly disputed Crimean status referendum. In April 2014, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region proclaimed the establishment of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic with considerable but clandestine support from Russia.
Ukrainian attempts in late 2014 to retake separatist-held areas were unsuccessful, leading to a protracted war in Donbas. Although Russia continued to deny involvement, Russian troops directly participated in the undeclared war.
In February 2015, the Minsk II agreements were signed by both Russia and Ukraine in an attempt to end the conflict, but the agreements were never fully implemented in the years that followed. The war in Donbas settled into a violent but static conflict between Ukraine and Russian proxies, with frequent brief ceasefires but no lasting peace and few changes in territorial control.
Beginning in 2021, Russia built up a large military presence near its border with Ukraine, including from within neighbouring Belarus. Russian president Vladimir Putin criticized the enlargement of NATO and demanded that Ukraine be barred from ever joining the military alliance.
Putin also expressed irredentist views and questioned Ukraine’s right to exist. On February 21, 2022, Russia officially recognized the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic as independent states.
In a televised broadcast three days later, Putin announced a “special military operation” proclaiming the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The invasion was internationally condemned, leading to many countries to impose sanctions against Russia and strengthening existing sanctions.
In early April 2022, the Russian army abandoned its attempt to take Kyiv after being soundly defeated by fierce Ukrainian resistance. In August, Ukrainian counteroffensives in the south and northeast drove the Russians out of significant areas the Russians had occupied since the start of the invasion in February.
In late September, Putin announced the Russian annexation of several parts of southern and eastern Ukraine, even though they were not fully occupied by Russian forces, drawing worldwide condemnation. Russia’s ongoing full-scale war against has resulted in a severe refugee crisis and many thousands of deaths.
March 14, 2023 – A Kiwi soldier in Ukraine has shared dramatic footage of rescuing his friend from an underground bunker. The man’s cry of “New Zealand” when he recognized the Kiwi appears to have saved his life. Adam Hollingworth reports.