REUTERS.COM: LVIV, Ukraine, March 7 (Reuters) - Michael Ferkol, who once served as a supply specialist with engineer battalions in the U.S. Army, had been in Rome studying archaeology when he heard the Ukrainian president's appeal for foreign fighters.
Within days, Ferkol said, he presented himself at a military recruiting office in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, hoping to be taken on as a frontline paramedic.
"I told them I wanted to triage patients," said the 29-year- old, who has no combat experience. "There was a Finnish guy there too, and he was like, 'I just want to kill Russians.'"
Ukraine has established an "international" legion for people from abroad and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has publicly urged foreigners to "fight side-by-side with Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals" to show support for his country. Last week, Zelenskiy said that more than 16,000 foreigners had volunteered, without specifying how many had arrived.
Some foreign fighters arriving in Ukraine say they are attracted by the cause: to halt what they view as an unprovoked attack in a once-in-a-generation showdown between the forces of democracy and dictatorship. For others, many of them veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Ukraine war also offers a chance to use fighting skills they felt their own governments no longer appreciated. » | Andrew R.c. Marshall | Monday, March 7, 2022
