(Manual update with additional information on Michael Furcol’s former role in the US Army.)
Andrew R.S. Marshall
LVIV, Ukraine – Michael Ferkol, who once served as a supply specialist for combat engineer battalions in the US Army, was in Rome studying archeology when he heard the Ukrainian president’s call for foreign fighters.
A few days later, Ferkol said, he reported to a military registration and enlistment office in Lvov, in western Ukraine, hoping to be hired as a paramedic on the front lines.
“I told them I wanted to triage the patients,” said the 29-year-old, who has no combat experience. “There was a Finn there too, and he said, ‘I just want to kill Russians.'”
Ukraine has created an “international” legion for people from abroad, and President Volodymyr Zelensky has publicly called on foreigners to “fight shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians against Russian war criminals” to show support for his country. Zelenskiy said last week that more than 16,000 foreigners had volunteered, without specifying how many had come.
Some foreign fighters arriving in Ukraine say they are drawn to the goal: to stop what they see as an unprovoked attack in a once-in-a-generation standoff between the forces of democracy and dictatorship. For others, many of whom are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, the war in Ukraine also provides an opportunity to use combat skills that they feel their own governments no longer value.
Reuters interviewed 20 foreign fighters or others involved in the operation, and some of them said Ukraine is struggling to test, arm and deploy them.
And along with the battle-hardened war veterans are coming those with little or no combat experience who offer limited value in a war zone under constant, horrendous shelling from the Russian military. One man, who identified himself as a veteran of the British Army, called these recruits “bullet catchers”.
The story goes on
Roman Shepelyak, a senior Ukrainian official in Lviv who handles the processing of newly arrived foreign volunteers, said the system for receiving, training and deploying foreign fighters is still in its infancy and that the process will become smoother in the coming days. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine declined to comment.
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, calling it a “special operation” to demilitarize Ukraine and capture dangerous nationalists. The armed forces of Ukraine are significantly inferior to the armed forces of Russia, but they are putting up serious resistance.
According to a former soldier of the regiment, among those who came to fight for Ukraine, dozens of former soldiers of the elite parachute regiment of the British army. Hundreds more will follow soon, he said. Reuters was unable to confirm these figures.
The regiment, often referred to as the Paras, has served in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years. “All of them are well trained and have participated in combat operations many times,” said the former soldier of the regiment. The Ukrainian crisis will give them purpose, camaraderie, and “a chance to do what they’re good at: fight.”
Michael Ferkol said that there are many people of Ukrainian origin in his hometown of Chicago. He wanted to go to Kyiv, the capital, “and help.”
“To be honest, I’m a little nervous,” he said as he made his way through crowds of refugees at a Lviv train station on Saturday, hoping to catch a train to the front line. “But at the same time, it’s not about me. It’s about people who are suffering.”
“POSITION TRAVELING”
For some, traveling to Ukraine, even from distant countries, was the easy part. Those who did not bring bulletproof vests, helmets and other equipment found it difficult to obtain them in Ukraine, several militants spoke to Reuters, according to several militants.
Some veterans have shared information about equipment and logistics through invite-only Facebook or WhatsApp groups with titles such as “Have Gun Will Travel.” These groups include calls for equipment such as bulletproof vests and night vision goggles, or for foreign veterans who are snipers or who can train Ukrainian soldiers in the use of advanced weapons sent by Western countries.
Now, when there is a large-scale mobilization of Ukrainian men, there are many volunteer fighters in the country. But there are not enough experts who know how to handle the Javelin and NLAW anti-tank missiles, the correct use of which professional soldiers learn for months.
Even those with combat experience may find it difficult to navigate the war zones in Ukraine, warned a former British soldier who asked to be called by his nickname Krueger. He said he served in Afghanistan and trained other soldiers.
“If you came here as a military tourist, this place is not for you,” he said. “The realities of war, if you go to the front, will be pretty overwhelming.”
Many of those who arrive in Lviv end up in the semi-fortified offices of the Lviv Regional State Administration, where Shepelyak checks their documents. Heads the regional department of international technical assistance and cooperation. He acknowledged that the system for processing those who offer to fight is still in its infancy.
On Friday, when Reuters visited Szepelyak’s office, six foreigners showed up at Szepelyak’s office, including a Polish war veteran named Michal and a giant Dutchman with numerous tattoos named Bert. Both men declined to give their full names.
According to Shepelyak, more and more foreigners arrived every day. “If they have that desire and conviction to serve a foreign country, it matters. They are important.”
Shepelyak said that he checked their documents, but not their combat experience, which was evaluated at a military base near Lvov, where they were then sent. He added that conscripts to the Ukrainian army will be paid on a par with other military personnel.
Other foreign fighters told Reuters that they were going straight to the eastern front, bypassing formal procedures, hoping to receive weapons and orders from the Ukrainian military upon arrival.
DELAYED DEPARTURES
Logistical problems prompted some of the fighters to delay their arrival.
Anthony Capone, a wealthy New York-based healthcare entrepreneur, said he is providing funding to hundreds of former soldiers and medics who want to travel to Ukraine. But he said he delayed their departure “to give the Ukrainian army another week to improve the process of recruiting those who enter volunteer units.”
So far, according to Capone, only “a small number” have arrived in neighboring Poland. Capone posted his message on LinkedIn offering funding, thinking that 10 or 15 people would respond. “Now I have about 1,000,” he said.
Capone added that he only funds former soldiers whose military records he can verify, or paramedics who currently work in the emergency room.
About 60% of those who kept in touch were American and 30% European, Capone said, with the rest coming from at least 25 distant countries such as Colombia, Japan and Jamaica.
Most of them were former soldiers; the rest were EMTs or intensive care nurses. They are ready to “defend a country they have never visited,” said Capone, a computational learning theorist.
The US government discourages citizens from traveling to Ukraine to fight Russian troops. Some countries have issued stricter warnings, including the UK. Others, such as Canada or Germany, have cleared the way for their citizens to participate.
COMMUNICATION IN Kyiv
In downtown Lvov on Thursday, a burly Russian-speaking Canadian who identified himself only as Sig loaded bags of equipment into the back of a minivan he’d bought in Poland and taken to Lvov.
He wore a bulletproof vest replete with medical instruments and said he usually worked as a civilian paramedic.
Another member of Sig’s four-man team was an American who said he was born in the former Soviet republic of Georgia and had fought “generations” of Russians.
Sig’s bags contained hundreds of kilograms of equipment, including medical supplies and military rations known as MREs, or ready-to-eat meals. Sig said his team planned to train Ukrainian volunteers in Lvov for the day before going straight to the front.
“I have a connection in Kyiv that will help us,” he said.
At the ticket hall of the Lvov railway station on Sunday, a group of Britons in military uniforms were waiting for a train to Kyiv. They were in high spirits, often exchanging fists and shaking hands with Ukrainian refugees, who thanked them for fighting for their country.
They were led by Ben Grant, a tall Englishman from Essex who said he was in the Royal Marines and had just finished working as a security adviser in Iraq. He did not know if his men would be deployed on their own or as part of a Ukrainian unit.
Of the Ukrainian soldiers, Grant added: “They seem strong—really strong. I am more than happy to fight alongside them.”
(Reporting by Andrew R. S. Marshall in Lviv, Ukraine; additional reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen and Phil Stewart in Washington, D.C. and Sharik Khan and Medha Singh in Bangalore. Edited by Cassell Bryan-Low)