Ukraine explains why it stopped recruiting foreigners
The head of the unit says it’s running out of weapons, and that untrained westerners have been more of a hindrance than a help.
Ukraine’s ‘International Legion’ no longer wants foreign recruits to fight Russia, a spokesman told Canada’s National Post on Friday. Despite Kiev once welcoming Westerners with open arms, it has now been revealed that supplies are low, and inexperienced volunteers aren’t ready for combat.
Volunteers who’ve already made the journey have told horror stories of being sent to the front lines unarmed and untrained. Following the Russian offensive, videos emerged online of people claiming they joined the fight against Moscow’s forces, but were given no ammo or weapons by the Ukrainian side.
Within days of Russia’s military assault on the country, Kiev promised visa-free entry for foreigners willing to take up arms against Moscow’s forces. Westerners could already enter the state, for 90 days, with just a normal passport.
Potential recruits visited Ukrainian embassies across the west and signed up to fight – often with the blessing of their own governments – and made their way to the battlefield.
However, the Ukrainian military was soon forced to be more selective about who could join its ‘International Legion’. Recruitment was narrowed last month to those with “live combat experience,” and a ‘legion’ spokesman told the National Post on Friday that enlistment had been paused entirely.
“There are multiple reasons (for halting recruiting) with one of them being the lack of firearms,” the spokesman said. Boris Wrzesnewskyj, a former MP from Canada who had been helping the ‘legion’ screen applicants, told the newspaper that inexperienced recruits were of no use on the front lines.
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Lack of weapons? I thought they were capturing massive amounts of arms and materiel from the Russians. What happened to all that? Or were they just towing their own vehicles with tractors for propaganda?
Hmmmm…
not only that but what about the billions in aide and pallets of arms and gear US and other countries have sent?
something doesnt add up
Either they don’t have the resources/victories that they’re claiming, or somebody is making a serious profit on a bunch of war materiel. Probably both.