Are Foreign Fighters a Blessing or a Curse for Ukraine?
Tens of thousands of volunteers are heading for Ukraine to do battle, repeating scenarios that have not ended well in past wars.
Ukrainian civilians training to fight in early March. Will foreign volunteers help or hurt?
Photographer: Europa Press News/Europa PressUkraine has most of the world on its side. It now has as many as 20,000 foreign fighters, too.
From former members of the U.S., British and Canadian militaries to citizens from Japan, Jamaica and Europe and an Edinburgh grandfather, volunteer soldiers from across the globe have signed up — at the invitation of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy himself — to help fight Russia’s invasion. Many are arriving at the borders with suitcases full of medicines and other first aid material, ready-to-eat meals, helmets and body armor. They’ve been joined by an influx of Ukrainians living abroad who are returning to fight for their home country.