Volunteers from all over the world have enlisted in Ukraine's armed forces. DW’s Mathias Bölinger met volunteer soldiers from Germany, Australia and Finland who'd just come back from the frontlines.
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00:00 target practice, keeping skills sharp well away from the front line, rest, resupply and
00:10 a bit of relaxation.
00:13 The International Legion has been part of the Ukrainian army since the beginning of
00:17 Russia's full-scale invasion.
00:19 We are just a simple unit, normal unit, just some foreigners and work together with the
00:25 Ukrainians.
00:26 Max Eberhard had two years' experience in the German army.
00:30 He came to Ukraine just weeks after the war started.
00:33 I never thought there would be a war in Europe again.
00:36 I didn't really have better things to do back home, like a boring job.
00:42 I wanted to help people, and Zelensky asked, so I came here.
00:48 Three days into the war, the Ukrainian president called for friends of peace and democracy
00:52 to help defend his country.
00:56 It was a message that hit home for Finnish volunteer callsign Hobbit.
01:02 It kind of stuck with me that Europe didn't do enough.
01:07 I remember when we had the war, we got volunteers, so I was like, well, at least I can do that.
01:20 Hobbit was referring to the Finno-Soviet war of the 1930s.
01:24 Many here bring their nation's historical experience with them.
01:29 Volunteers from more than 60 countries have taken up arms on behalf of Ukraine.
01:33 Some only stay for a few weeks or months.
01:36 They fight side by side with the Ukrainians, but international fighters can leave and go
01:41 home if they want to.
01:43 That makes a difference, says Caleb List.
01:47 When you go to a Ukrainian unit, you notice the whole place is clean.
01:52 They have people who cook and just set up, and it's nice.
01:56 So when you come off mission, the place is nice.
01:59 It's spotless.
02:01 With the Legion, because they're new, and people leave and come back, they remake a
02:09 lot of the mistakes.
02:10 So the place is sometimes dirty, it's not as well organized, they'll leave stuff behind.
02:15 Caleb List is from Australia.
02:18 He had no military experience when he joined up a year ago, but is now a platoon commander.
02:26 He says he was about to join the French Foreign Legion when Russia invaded Ukraine, so he
02:31 changed plans.
02:33 Adventure, he says, was part of his motivation.
02:38 I wanted to test myself.
02:39 I wanted to, like, again, I wanted to join the French Foreign Legion.
02:43 I wanted to push myself to the extreme.
02:45 So I came here with the same motivation, and I've basically done that.
02:51 And now I just do this because that's the only thing I'm really good at.
02:58 Here away from the front, things are a bit more relaxed.
03:06 The Legion has been fighting under Ukrainian command in the Kharkiv offensive and towards
03:11 Bakhmut, although Hobbit has his own only half-joking description of their most important
03:19 contribution to the war.
03:22 To die or get wounded every couple of months, so the West keeps having Ukraine in the headlines
03:29 and giving support.
03:32 I mean, we don't intend to do it, but I think in the end it turns out to be the, how do
03:41 you say, biggest impact we can have.
03:49 Assuming they don't make that kind of impact, all three men say they have no plans to return
03:56 to normal civilian life.
03:58 (dog panting)