“We have no news of around twenty Ukrainian legionnaires”

• The Foreign Legion has in its ranks some 700 soldiers of Ukrainian origin and 300 natives of Russia.

• From the moment they enlist, the legionnaires no longer have the right to fight for a country other than France, including their homeland.

• An exceptional leave has been put in place to allow Ukrainian soldiers to go to the safety of their loved ones.

A banal check for passengers who were much less so.

Last weekend, fourteen Ukrainian legionnaires were arrested in the 16th arrondissement of Paris on board a bus registered in Poland on its way to the Ukrainian border.

What were they going to do there?

Shelter their families or fight for their homeland, which is however strictly prohibited from the moment you join this corps of the Army.

An internal investigation has been opened.

takes stock with Colonel Antoine Fleuret, Chief of Staff of the Foreign Legion Command.

All the legionnaires arrested on board this bus had to be received by their command to take stock of their situation.

What about?

Of the 14, only three are currently on irregular absence, meaning we don't know where they are or what they are doing.

In other words, they disobey orders.

The eleven others have been granted permission to go abroad to shelter their loved ones.

For them, it was above all a question of regularizing their situation.

What are the risks for those of whom you have no news?

All situations will be considered on a case by case basis.

How long did they stay there?

Is this the first time that they have gone away like this?… They even run the risk of being struck off.

From the moment they enlist in the Legion, they engage in the service of France and therefore do not have the right to fight for another country, even their homeland.

Likewise as a military member, they are subject to certain movement restrictions.

At the moment, for example, the Ministry of the Armed Forces forbids us to go to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus, except as part of a mission of course.

The difficulty is that we don't have the means to investigate on the ground to know precisely where they were and what they did.

Have you noticed a high number of deserters since the start of the conflict?

The term “deserter” designates the end of the process, but we currently have no news of around twenty Ukrainian legionnaires out of the approximately 700 that we have in our ranks.

This is not a historical peak.

During the war in Yugoslavia, we were on much higher volumes.

I think it is also linked to the fact that very quickly we took measures to help the legionnaires who so wished to shelter their loved ones.

Have tensions been reported to you between Ukrainian and Russian legionnaires?

No None.

We did not harbor any particular fear on this subject but human and emotional reactions are never excluded.

In this case, what came back to us are rather gestures of brotherhood between legionnaires.

Perhaps this is a sign that they are beginning to move beyond their original homelands.

You quickly allowed Ukrainian legionnaires to go to the border to help their relatives.

How many benefited?

About 110, according to the last count.

Some have already returned, others, on the contrary, have not yet left.

As much as the corps commanders did not report any specific tensions to us, they also reported the deep concern of these soldiers for their loved ones.

This is why we have set up this exceptional permission of a fortnight which allows legionnaires to go to the border, in particular Polish or Romanian, to help their families find shelter.

Some have returned to France with their loved ones…

The majority of them have sheltered their families within the Ukrainian community in Poland, Romania, sometimes in Germany.

Many did not want to stray too far from the border so that they could return to their countries as soon as possible.

But about fifteen legionnaires have repatriated their families to France, that is to say about fifty people.

The majority are currently in the accommodation center of the Foreign Legion in La Ciotat which is usually used during summer movements.

It allows them to find a first haven of peace, to recover a little, to benefit from the solidarity of the Legion.

This is a transitional situation, we are also in contact with the Order of Malta precisely to prepare a more lasting welcome for these families.

Our file on the war in Ukraine

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If troops were to be sent to fight on the fringes of this conflict, would the Ukrainian and Russian legionnaires be excluded from the outset?

No, there is no rule in this matter.

By custom, care is always taken to ensure that the commitment of a legionnaire in his country or nearby would not cause problems for him or his relatives.

It's really case by case.

Miscellaneous facts

War in Ukraine: Fourteen Ukrainian legionnaires arrested in Paris, suspected of wanting to fight the Russian invasion

World

War in Ukraine: Between tanks around Kiev and refugee corridors, the conflict deciphered in four infographics

• Russia

• War in Ukraine

• Society

• Army

• Foreign Legion

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