President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 82/2022 on a visa-free regime for foreigners arriving in the country to take part in hostilities on the side of Kyiv.

The corresponding document was published on the website of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

“Introduce from March 1, 2022, temporarily for the period of martial law until the President of Ukraine makes an appropriate decision, a visa-free regime for entry into Ukraine for citizens of foreign states wishing to join the International Defense Legion of Ukraine, except for citizens of a state recognized as an aggressor state,” the statement reads. document.

Thus, citizens of all foreign countries, with the exception of the Russian Federation, can come to Ukraine to participate in hostilities.

The intention to create an "international legion", which should become part of the territorial defense forces (TrO), was announced by the office of the President of Ukraine on February 27.

As explained, this formation can be joined by persons who are ready to “come and stand side by side with the Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st century.”

“All foreigners who want to join the resistance to the Russian invaders and the protection of world security are invited by the leadership of Ukraine to come to our state and join the ranks of the territorial defense forces.

A separate unit is being formed from foreigners - the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, ”the website of the president’s office said.

"Military bums"

According to experts, Zelensky's order actually supplements decree No. 248 of June 10, 2016, of his predecessor as president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko.

Thus, Zelensky is trying to revive the failed reform on the mass recruitment of foreigners into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Recall, as Poroshenko's administration reported earlier, Decree No. 248 allowed foreigners and stateless persons to fulfill "voluntarily their duty to protect the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

Foreigners and stateless persons were given the opportunity to serve on a contract basis in the positions of privates, sergeants and foremen.

The authorities believed that granting the right to citizens of foreign countries and persons without citizenship to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine would reduce the need for mobilization of the Ukrainian population.

Unlike Zelensky, the previous president of Ukraine did not form separate military units where foreigners serve.

However, the refusal of this measure could be caused by a small number of citizens of foreign countries who signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

According to official figures, less than 100 foreigners served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine two months after the issuance of Decree No. 248.

All of them took part in the operation of the Ukrainian army in the Donbass.

Actual official information on the number of foreigners and stateless persons in the Ukrainian army has not been published.

According to the Ukrainian media, the “volunteers” who came from abroad expected, first of all, to receive Ukrainian passports and a residence permit in a simplified manner.

However, the Ukrainian authorities were in no hurry to provide them with such documents, so the mercenaries often called themselves "military bums."

As previously reported by the Ukrainian Channel 5, one of the “military bums” was a fighter Dmitry Rubashevsky, who arrived from Belarus (call sign Hans).

He did not want to return to his homeland, fearing to end up in places of deprivation of liberty.

In addition to obtaining official residence status, Rubashevsky explained his motivation to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a desire to fight the “empire”.

  • Servicemen of the Ukrainian army in Donbass

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  • © Headquarters of the JFO

As Nikolai Kostikin, an expert at the Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, noted in an interview with RT, public information about mercenaries in the Donbass allows us to conclude that mainly people who had problems with the law and were pathologically cruel joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“These are the real dogs of war, who are looking for a way to throw out adrenaline and aggression.

They don't care what banner they fight under.

Many have problems with the law, and the Ukrainian army has become a haven for such people.

At the same time, “legionnaires” do not have a high level of combat capability and lose if they encounter a regular army or a motivated enemy,” Kostikin emphasized.

"grabs at any straw"

Earlier, the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine reported on its Telegram channel that Ukrainians from the French Foreign Legion could come to Ukraine "in full combat gear."

Along with this, a freelance adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Oleksiy Arestovich said that many foreigners expressed a desire to take part in the battles on the side of Kyiv.

On February 27, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that the subjects of the kingdom have no legal obstacles to voluntarily enter Ukraine in order to support the Ukrainian army.

She stressed that it should be a personal choice for everyone.

On the same day, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss made a similar statement in an interview with the BBC.

She said that she would support the British, who want to fight on the side of Kyiv.

Experts recalled that the NATO member countries refused to transfer their regular troops to Ukraine and are now calling for “hot heads” to go to the country, for whose fate they will not be held responsible.

However, analysts doubt that a large number of "volunteers" from abroad will now go to Ukraine.

“The most trained units of our army are in Ukraine.

Tasks there are performed by contract soldiers, many of whom have passed through Syria and have good combat experience behind them.

The "international legion", if, of course, it is formed, there is no chance.

This whole adventure will end with the destruction of these militants.

It is not a fact that many of the “volunteers” will even get to the places of their intended service,” Nikolai Kostikin emphasized.

Military expert Oleksandr Khrolenko believes that the Ukrainian authorities are unlikely to be able to ensure control over the "international legion".

He recalled that the strikes of the Russian army destroyed many communication centers and command posts of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

  • Soldiers of the territorial defense of Kyiv

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  • © Diego Herrera

“The centralized command and control system of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has been destroyed.

In addition, it is not clear in what language the “volunteers” from different countries are going to communicate with each other.

If they do arrive in Ukraine, they will most likely turn into partisan and sabotage units that will largely operate autonomously or obey orders from US and EU handlers.

They will actually be NATO gangs,” Khrolenko said.

The expert also expressed the hope that the RF Armed Forces would not allow the integration of the “International Legion” fighters into the territorial defense system of Ukrainian cities planned by Kiev.

Khrolenko is confident that under such a scenario, the situation with the security of the civilian population will deteriorate significantly.

“The authorities of Ukraine distributed tens of thousands of firearms to whoever.

Citizens of Ukraine themselves see and shoot on their phones how these “defenders” behave.

To a greater extent, it is because of them that murders, extortion and robberies occur.

I don’t think that foreigners who came to Ukraine will do something else,” says Khrolenko.

According to the expert, in the current desperate situation, Zelensky “grabs at any straw” and is ready to recruit anyone for military service.

In particular, the Ukrainian authorities began to release convicted radicals and ATO participants from prisons, hoping in this way to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Some of them are guilty of killing civilians.

“Zelensky is frantically trying to win over as many people as possible who are ready to take up arms.

It is impossible to explain this with anything other than the agony of his regime.

The only thing the Kiev regime is good at is mocking people and producing a large number of fakes,” Khrolenko argues.

A similar point of view is shared by Kostikin.

The expert believes that representatives of ultra-right Western groups, who are close to the narratives of the Ukrainian nationalist ideology, can join the “international legion”.

“Such “volunteers” are always characterized by a low level of discipline, they do not feel responsible for their actions.

From the members of the so-called international legion one should not expect any kind of military sense.

If they get into settlements, then looting and participation in a bloody bacchanalia will become their destiny, ”Kostikin believes.