Ukrainian Legion | “Death is a real possibility”, says a Canadian

The evening before Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border, Igor Volzhanin met a friend in a cafe in central Kyiv.

“We stayed there until about midnight, just talking,” recalls the Canadian in an interview from Ukraine. I don’t think any of us really expected this to happen the next morning. »

On February 25, Mr. Volzhanin’s holiday in Ukraine was to continue with a comedy show by Louis C.K., and the next day he was to board a plane for France for a skiing holiday. But his plans quickly changed.

Russian forces began their assault on February 24. A few days later, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea that was heard around the world when he asked people to help his country fight Russia.

Mr. Volzhanin has no military experience, but he still enrolled in the so-called International Defense Legion of Ukraine. He said he was the second of some 20,000 people from 52 countries who have since volunteered to fight.

“I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said. When the war started, there was an option to leave the country. There was a car waiting for me, basically. And I felt… that I was born in Ukraine. So this is my home in a way, and I felt like I wanted to defend it. »

The Canadians make up one of the largest groups of volunteers in the international legion, alongside those from the United States and Britain, according to a spokesperson. The organization is growing and seeking more members with combat experience, even as the Canadian government and other Western powers warn their citizens not to fight in Ukraine.

But it’s not just the experience the legion is looking for, Volzhanin said. It is also motivation.

Mr. Volzhanin, a 34-year-old former tech entrepreneur who grew up in Mississauga, Ont., was dressed in a camo t-shirt on a Saturday and, around 7 a.m. local time, he had already started his day well. . When outside, he said he wore a bulletproof vest weighing around 12 kilograms, which he described as “pretty light”.

He is involved in the assessment of legion candidates, logistics and other duties as required, he explained.

He compared the legion to a start-up — in a “positive sense” — in which he started at ground level and then made things work.

If he applied to join the legion now, he would not be accepted given his lack of military experience, he added.

Canadian volunteer selections

Former Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj is among a group of volunteers who have offered to help the Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa contact and vet Canadians willing to respond to President Zelensky’s call to arms.

Wrzesnewskyj said about 1,500 Canadians have applied to join the international legion. But while interviews with potential candidates began about a week ago, after a temporary suspension, the former MP clarified that none had yet been deployed.

“They’re just careful to make sure they have the right people,” he said. It was repeatedly emphasized that these must be people who really have combat experience and that a proper interview and vetting process takes place. »

The majority of Canadians who have applied have no combat experience and will not be accepted, he said.

Mr Volzhanin recalled being “extremely” nervous when he first signed up.

“I was scared because I had never served in the army,” he said. I didn’t know what to expect at that time in February. There were so many images and stories of people being given a gun and being sent to the front lines. I didn’t know what to expect. »

Now that it’s been about six weeks since he enlisted, he understands that “no one in the military is interested in sending untrained soldiers to the front lines,” and he’s much calmer and more at ease.

Some Canadians have decided to bypass the official application process and travel to Ukraine alone to fight. Mr. Wrzesnewskyj said there had been previous reports of Canadians being injured or killed in action.

Exactly when the Canadians will begin to deploy remains a mystery, but Wrzesnewskyj said volunteers are still needed even if the conflict turns from an all-out invasion of Ukraine to a war over eastern and southern territories. country.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to requests for comment.

A long-term commitment

The legion has drawn veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, the Balkan wars and people who fought drug cartels in South America, Volzhanin said. Unlike those conflicts, the one in Ukraine cannot rely on air superiority and other advantages.

Those who join the legion must sign a contract stating that they will stay until martial law is lifted. But there were a few for whom circumstances changed and were allowed to leave, Volzhanin said.

“No one keeps them in the legion against their will or desire,” he added.

But what he wants to send as a message is that Ukraine is at war and it is a country with very few resources to use for those who suddenly change their minds.

“So if you’re already thinking ‘well, maybe I’ll do this for a limited period of time’, think about the resources the country will put into you and whether or not you’ll be able to contribute back at least for the same. thing or more,” he said.

The conflict caused him to put things into perspective and Mr. Volzhanin wondered how this would affect him in the future.

On the morning of the invasion, he said he was in a grocery store where he saw a few people wearing designer clothes and accessories. From that moment he wondered if he could pick up the thread of that old life and get back to the way things were.

“I just remember thinking about how meaningless they had become. Not only were these things irrelevant, but they had become insignificant within eight hours,” Volzhanin said.

The thing that surprised him the most was how quickly the assault began.

“It makes you realize how thin the line is between normalcy and war,” he testified.

“The night before you could just walk down the street and there were people, there were cafes, bars, all open, people having fun. And, literally eight hours later, you could find yourself in the war zone. There is something that you thought was stable, something that has been built up over the years, that could just be completely destroyed. In an instant,” he concluded.