Last March, kyiv claimed that around 20,000 foreigners had volunteered to support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion. Léon, whose name has been changed, is a Frenchman who is one of these volunteer fighters. The former serviceman entered the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and was injured in the leg and foot during combat on the Eastern Front, report our colleagues from BFMTV.
Hospitalized in kyiv, Léon says his family does not know he is in Ukraine. During the fight that injured him, the Frenchman found himself “fifty meters from the Russian forces”. “We tried to ask them to surrender, but they did not respond favorably so the fight started,” he explains to BFMTV journalists.
Mobilized people who “surrender fairly quickly”
In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the mobilization of 300,000 reservists. The arrival of these men, who until recently were still civilians, should have made it possible to consolidate the Russian lines against the Ukrainian army, which has made significant territorial gains in the east and south of the country. Léon came across some of these “single use” soldiers. During these few months on the front, the former soldier sometimes came across Russians with no experience of war.
“Our first prisoners were mobilized. Former prisoners who came out of their hole. They didn’t fight, they surrendered pretty quickly saying, “Mobilized! Mobilized!” [en Russe] “, he explains. “We find everything, from the basic conscript to the mercenary of Wagner through the elite units, which have a much better equipment and which are better trained”, adds Léon. The former soldier, who is currently relying on a crutch, intends to recover as soon as possible and return to the field. “As long as we’re here and we help as much as possible, we have to be proud of what we do,” he says.
