As France evacuates its citizens from Ukraine, France 24 talks to Frenchmen who are on their way back to the war zone. A former soldier and intensive care doctor are preparing to enter the country, while a nurse and logistics expert are organizing to send medical supplies.
“I do not know what awaits me. I never knew the war, strictly speaking, “admits Aurelien (first name changed). A former French soldier, he has been working since leaving the army as a stretcher carrier. He believes he could be useful to the Ukrainian resistance and plans to leave his home in northern France this week to go to Ukraine via Poland, accompanied by at least one other French volunteer.
“I want to go to Ukraine for obvious reasons, for freedom and peace,” he said. What is happening now, in 2022, contradicts progress. Kyiv must hold on and they need us. We hope to arrive in time to help the resistance. “
Aurelien learned to use a firearm when he was a soldier, but, he explains, “these are [s]years in the hospital emergency department will be useful. “As a stretcher bearer, he honed his first aid skills. At the hospital, he was responsible for the safe transport of patients and equipment. But his military training could still prove to be useful, he thinks, “Still, I think you should be prepared for all sorts of cases.”
The 30-year-old footballer will leave France without military equipment. He also has no contact in Ukraine. But he is not worried: “In the first place, we would like to meet the Ukrainian resistance, and I think the rest will follow,” he hopes.
“International Legion” of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on February 28th the creation of an “international legion” uniting foreign military volunteers. The Ukrainian government is setting up a similar structure to gather medical volunteers. “Why not?” Aurelien said when asked if he intended to join. “I sent an email to the Ukrainian embassy in Paris to let them know that I wanted to volunteer.
However, Aurelien risks being sent back to the border because he does not have a passport. He hopes that his French ID card will be enough.
But Arsen Sabaniev, a French-Ukrainian doctor at Samu de Lille, said things could be a little more complicated. According to him, the people in Aurelien’s position must physically present themselves at the Ukrainian embassy in Paris, with their ID cards and proof of their military training, in order to receive a special pass.
“It is currently impossible to get to the embassy unless you go there physically,” he explained. They are completely overwhelmed. “
“It’s very risky”
Dr. Sabanieev set up a Facebook group to bring together medical volunteers who want to go to Ukraine. Titled “French CAREGIVER VOLUNTEERS IN UKRAINE”, it is evolving rapidly.
“I told those who want to leave that they will not have the support of the French embassy on the spot, they will only go in person, warns the doctor. If one of them is wounded by a bullet, he will be on his own. This is very risky.”
Born in Kyiv, Dr. Sabanieev moved to France with his mother when he was ten years old. He plans to visit Ukraine this weekend and is already in contact with the Ministry of Defense. Meanwhile, he fills a van lent to him by a friend with medical equipment and supplies.
“I have been a Ukrainian patriot since I was 15,” he said. “Becoming a doctor was my way of helping my country. But I would never have imagined that we would find ourselves in this situation.”
He captures. His French wife does not want him to leave. “But she understands,” he explains. “I’m not trained in military medicine … But I’ve worked in the emergency services and I know first aid. I also know how to use a firearm, but it’s like a medic going. I will help in the fight by saving lives.”
“We can’t go there alone and go blind”
Valerie, an intensive nurse with experience in humanitarian work abroad, refused to go to Ukraine when she realized she would have to go there without any guarantees or support from French institutions or government agencies. “[Le ministre français des Affaires étrangères] Jean-Yves Le Drian is trying to get all the French out of Ukraine, she said. I have talked to the humanitarian organizations I have worked with in the past, and no one is going to Ukraine. There is a reason for this: this is a war zone and it is extremely dangerous. Dramas will be added to the Ukrainian dramas that are already underway. “
Therefore, always eager to help, Valerie collects drugs from the hospital pharmacy where she works. He also plans to contact an association with experience in transporting medical equipment to Ukraine.
“I would like to be part of a convoy carrying drugs,” she complains. I think I can be useful. Blindness.
Benoit also refused to leave. Married to a Ukrainian woman, he was running a company importing French wines, including champagne, to Ukraine when violence erupted in the Donbass region in 2014.
“I’m more useful here … But deep in my gut I want to go”
Back in France, he formed an association called the French & Ukrainians Supporting Army.
Benoît has revived the band in recent weeks. Since then, he has collected donations from people in Europe and the United States to buy medical and military supplies online and send them to troops in Ukraine.
“We have a truck that leaves this week, Thursday or Friday, with medical equipment, compression bandages, Celox [une poudre utilisée pour arrêter les hémorragies], turnstiles … “, he lists.” The driver is Ukrainian. A truck with protections for the soldiers leaves next week. I don’t do weapons, there will be no deadly weapons. “
Donations collected by the association on board the truck leaving for the Ukrainian border. © DR
In recent days, a friend of his, a soldier in the Ukrainian army, was killed in a Russian bombing raid in Kharkov.
“I have friends [soldats] in Mariupol. The city is surrounded by Russians. They tell me, “Take care of my children, if they don’t come back,” Benoit said. “I am more useful here in France. I’m not a soldier, friends [ukrainiens] they know how to fight. I know how logistics is done. But deep in my gut, I want to go. “
“It itches me,” he added. “But I have a wife, I’m a father. I have responsibilities.”
The original version of this article, translated from English, is available here.
© Graphic studio France Media World