An old administration building with crumbling stucco on the facade.

In front of it, a small park with mighty trees, somewhere in western Ukraine.

Only the small excavator and the many nylon bags filled with sand disturb the picture.

Then, under the trees, you can see the many pits freshly dug in the frosty earth.

"We're ready," says a man with a camouflage outfit, a full blond beard and a Kalashnikov over his shoulder, whose northern English accent betrays his origins.

He introduces himself as Swampy and says he's been here for several days.

The trenches are for emergencies, should the Russians actually get to the west.

"But so far we're just training."

Alexander Haneke

Editor in Politics.

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Several dozen volunteers have already gathered at the place in the Lviv region, which will not be described in detail here.

The danger is real.

With the rocket attacks at the weekend, Russia took the war to the Polish border.

In Yavoriv, ​​just 20 kilometers from one of the most important crossings, rockets fell early on Sunday morning and destroyed a military base from which the supply of material and foreign volunteers to Ukraine is organized.

Scores of people were killed.

Moscow is issuing clear threats: it says that none of the foreign fighters are considered regular prisoners of war.

The flow doesn't stop

Here, a little further inland, the influx of young men does not stop.

They arrive with backpacks, like on an adventure trip.

Many made an appointment via Facebook, Telegram or other networks, booked a flight to Poland and headed to the border from there.

According to information from Kyiv, more than 20,000 foreigners have already signed up for the Foreign Legion, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced shortly after the war began so that volunteers from all over the world could join the fight.

Swampy, nervously massaging a cigarette with his tattooed fingers, can't hide his discomfort.

"We try to make sure that only people who we need come," he says.

"We check their background, veteran papers and everything so we don't get any criminals or Nazis.

We need men we can count on in battle.” Many of the boys got good helmets and body armor at home and expected to get a gun here.

"But the Ukrainian army has tens of thousands of men who lack the equipment." Anyone who is not a professional should stay at home, otherwise you will only create more problems.

Then a siren wails.

Crouching, Swampy runs to a basement in front of which a high wall of sandbags is piled up.

When the all-clear comes, his face relaxes a bit.

There is a lack of structure

A group of British and Americans have gathered at the base and taken over the unofficial leadership.

Some know each other from previous assignments.

Everyone served in the army for years and later somehow stayed true to the war business.

Toby, a slightly stocky late forties from London, was on the road for private security companies in crisis areas.

He's not here to fight, he says.

He wants to create structures.