These Ukrainian emigrants who enlist to defend their country

(Lublin) The ceremony is brief: a man approaches a desk, signs some papers, then a soldier shakes his hand and welcomes him into the Ukrainian forces.

“Glory to Ukraine!” “, says Igor Roussakevitch, a volunteer who came to join the Ukrainian Legion created in Poland by Kyiv for Ukrainians living abroad.

Three years after the start of the Russian invasion, Ukraine is seeking to replenish its army and the Legion was designed to convince men of fighting age to enlist.

Opened last month in the Polish city of Lublin, about 100 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the recruitment office has received around 700 applications so far.

“I have a family here”

“I had to finish some things. I have a family here, a good job. I had to gather my strength,” says Igor Roussakevich, explaining why he had not joined earlier.

This 37-year-old construction site manager has lived in Poland for more than three decades. He is married to a Polish woman and has a teenage son.

“I feel like a Pole but I am a Ukrainian at heart,” he says.

“I watch the news every day. I see that we are losing,” adds Igor Roussakevitch.

Russian forces are steadily advancing in eastern Ukraine and have intensified their assaults on the southern front, while maintaining massive drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.

« Me purifier »

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry explained that the first volunteers who signed contracts in Lublin immediately underwent basic military training for about a month.

The Legion was formed as part of a wider security arrangement between Warsaw and Kyiv, with Poland providing initial training for recruits, before they move on to other NATO bases in Europe.

Another volunteer, Dmytro Zdorik, 20, who lived in Lithuania, said he felt “drawn” to the army since childhood.

He says he discovered the Legion thanks to his grandfather, himself a former soldier.

“He sent me a video. And I said to myself, this is a chance to quickly join the army,” says Dmytro Zdorik.

There are an estimated 300,000 Ukrainian men of fighting age living in neighboring Poland alone.

Through online advertising, Ukraine seeks to reach its citizens across Europe.

Yuri Koulious, a former prisoner, said he spent two years in Germany before deciding to enlist in the Legion, a decision he had been considering “for a long time”.

“I just want to purify myself […]. I am tired of the stigma of a criminal record,” underlines this 45-year-old man.

“The main thing is to be useful,” insists Yuri Koulious.

He says he told his mother, who still lives in Ukraine. “She told me I was an idiot.”

And adding with a laugh: “Well, I’m not looking for an easy life.”