Wednesday brought a different view: groups of young men loaded with heavy bags and military kits entered Ukraine from Poland as they responded to President Vladimir Zelensky’s call for “citizens of the world” to fight “Russian war criminals.”
Among them is New Yorker Vasik Didik, a 26-year-old carpenter wearing a fluorescent Carhartt hat who is a native of Ukraine.
“This is our homeland,” he told CNN in Shehyni. “We couldn’t stay in our comfortable life in America and watch what was happening here.”
Didik, accompanied by his friend Igor Harmay, spent 24 hours traveling from New York to Poland before returning to his homeland, carrying a canvas backpack and pulling a suitcase on wheels.
He has no military training and came despite his parents, who do not live in Ukraine, crying on the phone when they heard he was involved in the battle.
“I have not returned to Ukraine for four years, but it was not even a choice,” he said. “I had to come and help my country.”
The world has watched in horror since Russia invaded Ukraine late last week, sparking Europe’s biggest land war since World War II. And Zelensky’s disobedience not only united the Western opposition to Russia, but also inspired foreign volunteers and Ukrainians abroad to fight for the cause.
“This is not just Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Sunday. “This is the beginning of a war against Europe, against European structures, against democracy, against fundamental human rights, against the global order of law, rules and peaceful coexistence.
Ukrainian embassies are helping to recruit foreign fighters, while at least one senior Western government politician who has previously persecuted those who have joined foreign wars has expressed support for citizens who take up arms in Ukraine.
“If people want to support this fight, I will support them to do so,” UK Foreign Minister Liz Truss told the BBC on Sunday.
Asked by CNN if it had given its consent to French foreign fighters in Ukraine, the French government said: we officially recommend that you do not travel to Ukraine. “
The question did not receive a direct answer from US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a press briefing on Wednesday.
When asked about American foreign fighters, he said the United States has been “clear for some time” to tell “Americans who may be thinking of traveling there should not go.”
If Americans want to help Ukraine, there are many ways to do so, including supporting and assisting many NGOs working to provide humanitarian aid; they themselves provide resources to groups that are trying to help Ukraine by defending Ukraine, ”he said.
On Thursday, Zelensky said the first of 16,000 foreign fighters were making their way to Ukraine “to protect freedom and life for us and for all,” he said. CNN was unable to confirm these numbers.
“Attack on Europe”
In the English town of Milton Keynes, more than 1,200 miles west of Shehini, British builder Jake Dale said a call for foreigners to join Ukraine’s International Legion had inspired him to book a flight to Poland on Friday. He plans to cross into Ukraine by Saturday afternoon.
“As soon as I heard his [Zelensky’s] call – it made me think he needed help, “said the 29-year-old from his home, who shares with his girlfriend and two children.” I think it’s a worthy cause to risk my life and my girlfriend feels the same. She’s obviously as upset as anyone would be, but she supports him as she sees that I want to help. “
As early as 2015, Dale wanted to join the Kurdish militia, the People’s Protection Squad, or YPG, which led the fight against ISIS in Syria, but withdrew due to warnings from the British government.
This time, he is not worried about the potential legal problems he may face on his return from Ukraine. “I’m ready to deal with this,” he said after the British government distanced itself from Trus’s comments.
During a trip to Poland, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK did not “actively” support volunteers who would fight. “I can understand why people feel this way, but in our country we have laws on international conflicts and how they should be conducted,” Johnson told reporters.
Dale, 36, travels to Ukraine with Peter Hearst, a former British Army infantryman who toured Afghanistan before leaving the army in 2011.
The father of five, who lives in the northern English town of Pontefract, spoke to CNN during a video call while choosing a set from an army supply store in the nearby town. He said he wanted to fight to protect democratic values and freedoms.
“It simply came to our notice then. If you don’t help stop the war there [in Ukraine]it will probably spread, “he said.
Both Hearst and Dale met this week in a Facebook group set up to help deliver British medical and military aid to Ukraine. They are working with a liaison – whose name is listed in an information package sent by the Ukrainian embassy – that will provide them with bulletproof vests and waistcoats in Poland.
Dale has spent £ 300 ($ 400) to buy a kit and plane tickets and is worried about the financial impact of not working. “It will be tense for my family when I leave,” he said. “But I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Not everyone supports the idea of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
The US-based extremist tracking organization SITE Intelligence Group has warned of the involvement of teams such as Azov, a paramilitary group whose logo is the Wolfsangel, a symbol appropriated by Nazi Germany.
“Following Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine, far-right online communities have joined forces with groups such as Azov, both in terms of fundraising and their intention to fight alongside them,” a SITE report said. .
The British government told those without military training to avoid battle.
In the Facebook group Hearst and Dale met, one user warned: “This is absolutely no place for someone who doesn’t have a gun skills and doesn’t speak the language. As well as being a danger to others, it’s not fair to the boys themselves. ”
Dale says he is aware of such warnings, but insists his skills as a qualified mechanic can be useful.
“People may say it is wrong to enter without military experience, but I believe that by fighting alongside the Ukrainians, I am responding to their call for help,” he said. “Putin’s regime is ruthless – we are not just defending Ukraine.
“As long as you have to”
Ukrainian citizen Valery, who asked for his last name not to be published, lives in eastern France, but has been forced to return to Ukraine to visit his elderly parents as Russia has amassed troops on the border with Ukraine.
The invasion on February 24 began shortly after he arrived in Kyiv, where it was sounded with warning sirens before dawn.
“I woke up around five in the morning with a very strange sound,” he said. “I thought I was still dreaming. I couldn’t believe my ears. But the sound was so persistent that I couldn’t sleep anymore.”
Valerie said that his mind turned to one thing: “How useful can I be for my country? The first thought was to join the army and see how useful I could be.
After enrolling in a recruitment center, the 45-year-old said he “felt this feeling of nausea” when he received his weapon, realizing that normalcy had been shattered. “Kyiv has been a very quiet city since 1943,” he said.
Valerie served with five others in a military unit. “Many of them have families, they have children. However, they have joined,” he said, adding that the morale of the forces is high. “There is a lot of determination to defeat the enemy.”
Back at the Shehini border crossing, New Yorkers Didick and Harmay are fighting over their canvas backpacks and suitcases on wheels.
When asked how long they plan to stay in Ukraine, they both stop and say almost simultaneously, “Enough is enough.”
CNN’s Tara John reports and writes from London, while CNN’s AnneClaire Stapleton reports from Shehini, Ukraine, and Joseph Ataman and Camille Knight report from Paris, France.