Nearly 700 Ukrainian volunteers living in Europe have signed up to join the Ukrainian Legion, a new army formation that will be used against the Russian troops on the front line, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported, as quoted by France Presse.
Ukrainian forces, which have suffered heavy losses since the nearly three-year Russian invasion, are looking to recruit new soldiers from among the hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians living in Europe, particularly Poland and Germany. Some of them have fled their country illegally precisely because of the fear of being mobilized, notes France Press.
In early October, Kiev announced that it had opened its first recruitment office in the Polish city of Lublin, with the aim of encouraging Ukrainians abroad to join the army.
"So far, the military recruitment center for the Ukrainian Legion has received about 700 applications from Ukrainians," Lt. Col. Petro Gorkucha said, as quoted in a ministry press release. He added that applicants had applied from several countries, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany and Ireland.
They will be able to join the legion after passing a medical board and exams, he added.
The first recruits signed their contracts today at the recruitment center in Lublin, after which they immediately left for a training center in Poland, the ministry added. They will receive 35 days of basic military training with the participation of Polish and Ukrainian instructors, after which they will undergo specialized training at NATO bases in Europe, Gorkusha added.
Kiev recently announced plans to mobilize 160,000 people between November and February. At the beginning of the year, Kiev estimated that there were about 300,000 Ukrainians of conscription age living in Poland.