‘A lot’ of Canadians have joined fight against Russian invasion of Ukraine, says spokesperson

The international volunteer force assembled to fight the Russian invasion of Ukraine has recruited a significant number of Canadians, according to the group’s spokesperson.

“We have quite a lot of Canadians,” Corporal Damien Magrou, who speaks for the newly-formed International Legion of Territorial Defence of Ukraine, said in an interview.

“Ukraine has a very strong diaspora in Canada, so we’ve got a number of Ukrainian-Canadians — let’s put it that way, some with a lot of experience,” Magrou told Global News.

Thousands of volunteers from around the world are said to have offered to join the effort to repel Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to annex his western neighbour.

Magrou declined to disclose numbers but said the top sources of recruits accepted into the foreign legion were Poland, the Baltics, Britain, the United States and Scandinavia.

They include veterans of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, and some were combatants in Syria, where they fought alongside Kurdish armed groups battling ISIS, he said.

“So what we get the most of in terms of combat experience, it’s Iraq tours, Afghanistan tours, though we also have some people that were fighting in Syria for various sides,” said Magrou.

“Canada was the whole time in Afghanistan. We’ve got quite a lot of recruits that were there.”

After Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the creation of an international legion that would operate as part of Ukraine’s military.

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Recruits must fill out a questionnaire that asks about their military experience and criminal history. They also undergo a personal interview by staff at Ukrainian embassies.

Those accepted sign a contract. They travel to Poland and are bussed into Ukraine. Many were sent to a sprawling training centre at Yavoriv, 20 kilometres inside Ukraine.

The base was hit by eight Russian missiles early Sunday. Although Russia claimed to have killed “foreign mercenaries,” Ukrainian authorities denied that and said all 35 who died were Ukrainians.

Magrou said the attack may have been an attempt by Russia to deter international volunteers from enlisting in the foreign legion, but he also said all those killed were Ukrainians.

“We can confirm that there were no foreigners killed,” he said.

The participation of so-called foreign fighters in armed conflicts is not uncommon, but it is controversial, with experts warning that their involvement can have drawbacks.

“One concern is that people see and do things that traumatize them,” said Colin Clarke, director of research at the Soufan Group intelligence and security consultancy.

“This is war, and it’s an intense war. There is concern that legions of young men could return to Europe scarred from the horrors of this conflict, leading to issues in their countries of origin.”

Another worry is that foreign volunteers become disillusioned that their home government aren’t doing enough for Ukraine and “develop deep anti-government grievances which, in some cases, could lead to violent extremism,” Clarke said.

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The International Legion is the country’s only armed group for international volunteers that is affiliated with the Ukrainian forces. Recruits are sent to units under Ukrainian command and must obey orders and follow the rules of war.

Only applicants with a military background are accepted, said Magrou, adding that Ukrainian officials were attempting to screen out those not right for the task.

“Apart from the fact that we’re looking for experience obviously, we’re looking for people that are suitable to serve in the armed forces,” he said in an interview in Lviv, western Ukraine.

“We’ve turned away a number of people based on suitability, based on mental health screenings, so we’re trying to do this the right way.”

“If they want to go and get killed without having any actual affect on the battlefield, they can join some of these volunteer battalions that are doing exactly that. That’s not what we’re in for.”

Born in France, Magrou is a Norwegian citizen. He was working for a law firm in Kyiv when the war started and was the first to sign a contract to join the foreign legion, he said.

He likened the conflict to the Spanish civil war, which attracted thousands of internationals determined to fight fascism. “I think that’s the closest example that we have in history to this type of situation,” he said.

He said he had no army background, but emphasized the international legion would not be accommodating foreigners unless they had previously served in an armed force.

“The message we want to get across is that we’re really looking for people with combat experience, because we’re not an army school,” Magrou said.

“I mean, we’ll complete training for those that need a bit of top up, or have already experience but are not trained for particular weapons system, or for particular type of actions we’ll complete the training with whatever is needed,” he said.

“But we’re not here to train people from scratch. We don’t have the time, we don’t have the resources.”

Stewart.Bell@globalnews.ca