Volunteers of Ukraine
The Russian Federation and Ukraine are currently at war; the Russian-Ukrainian War broke out in spring 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. However, the war accelerated when Russia invaded Ukraine across a broad front in February 2022.
As of September 2014, 37 volunteer battalions took an active part in battles of the War in Donbas and the number of volunteer troops increased rapidly after the new invasion, which forced the government to control and support some volunteer formations. Some of the government-controlled volunteer battalions are led by the Ministry of Defence, and Internal Affairs, which has more than eighty brigades. Moreover, there are Ukrainian volunteer units as well, which have been tried to be integrated into the Ukrainian Army or National Guard in spring 2015.
The number of volunteer groups created by foreigners is increasing as the intensity of the war expands. One of the first paramilitary units for the war in Donbas is the Georgian National Legion, organized in 2014 with the aim “to stand up to Russian aggression”. The unit is formed mostly by the ethnic Georgian volunteers and is commanded by a man called Mamuka Mamulashvili, a veteran Georgian officer.
The Muslim battalions have a vital position as they are three times stronger in number, according to New York Times. These units include Dzhokhar Dudayev, Sheikh Mansur, and Noman Çelebicihan Battalion. The Dzhokhar Dudayev battalion has been in the process of being legalized as part of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry. However, the other two are composed of purely volunteer soldiers.
One of the most significant battalions formed for the Ukrainian-Russian War is the new “International Brigade” of the Ukrainian armed forces. The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged foreign volunteers to travel to Ukrainian embassies that are found throughout the world. The Guardian stated that some of the many British-based volunteers heading to fight in Ukraine state that they are willing to die to protect the country from invading Russian forces. Konch, a security contractor who is heading to the war stated that “A lot of the other guys I’m going with are ex-forces, but there are some that have never fired a water pistol in their lives. Anyone with half an ounce of integrity can’t help feeling moved by what’s happening. If Ukrainians are willing to stand up and fight, then so can we.” The British Foreign Office minister, Liz Truss reinforced the Brigade by telling that it would be “fighting for democracy”.
Not everyone coming from the United Kingdom had initially planned to fight. Tom Dutton, 42, of Morecambe, who owns a carpet business, had planned to drive a rented vehicle laden with medical supplies in the next two weeks. He intends to assist as many people as possible in leaving the nation once he arrives. “I’m not going to fight, but I will if I have to — I just want to help get as many people as I can,” said Dutton, who served in the military.
Others, such as James Fern, 38, an ex-army medic who owns a medical support company and says he plans to drive a donated ambulance from London to Ukraine, are collecting money online. By the middle of next week, he expects to arrive with many others.
Works Cited
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-60563278
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_volunteer_battalions#cite_note-21
