Who are the Italian foreign fighters and why they enlist

The death of

, the Italian militiaman killed in the Donbass by the explosion of a hand grenade while fighting alongside the pro-Russian militias, brings to the fore the theme of the so-called

, those real legionaries with passports of the Italian Republic who in recent years they have sided with the separatist forces in

and

.

And that, in recent weeks, with the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, they have found a new opportunity to take up arms and join the clashes.

Ansa / Northeast Red Star Collective

Edy Ongaro, 46, hit by a hand grenade in the trenches

It is estimated that

(about sixty) have gone to fight in Ukraine

, some of whom have already been present in that territory for several years.

These are people equally distributed between the two fighting factions, usually adult males with a medium-low socioeconomic level and without family members.

Among Western countries, only Germany (150) and Serbia (100) would surpass Italy in number of militiamen.

After all, just go online to find recruitment methods and times: among the various sites available, Fight for Ukraine, which allows you to join the International Brigade in defense of the country under attack in seven simple steps.

It is since the crisis of 2014, when the

revolt broke out in Kiev, that there have been numerous cases of

who, for the most diverse reasons (from ideological reasons to purely personal reasons) have decided to join their respective fronts , now engaged in the bloody struggle for war supremacy: on the one hand, the pro-Russian

groups , which for years have supported the absorption of the two

(provinces) of Donbass to the Russian Federation;

on the other, the nationalist groups allied with the Ukrainian national army, accused by the enemy of being far-right "neo-Nazis" (the infamous "

").

In both camps, those who fight for Kiev and those who have their eyes turned to Moscow, Western militiamen have entered permanently, who have arrived in Ukraine from Europe and the United States.

And also from Italy.

Photo archive Ansa

Bodyguard Fabrizio Quattrocchi, killed in Iraq in 2004

The precedent of 2004: Fabrizio Quattrocchi

It is not the first time that our country has to deal with this phenomenon: already in the second Iraqi war, which broke out in 2003 at the behest of the American administration of George W. Bush, there were several recruitments of

, defined by some as guards private security agencies, by others as genuine mercenaries, usually operating in war contexts or other crisis areas to support the activities of the regular army.

On

, a few months after Nassirya's attack on the Carabinieri barracks, in which 19 Italian soldiers had died, the video of the execution of

, kidnapped together with his colleagues Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore Stefio , was released.

, which in fact operated in Iraq as

alongside regular forces.

They were kidnapped by jihadist militiamen (they spoke of the Mujahideen Brigade or the Green Phalanges of Muhammad) and, after almost two months of imprisonment, they were released.

Except for Fabrizio Quattrocchi, who was executed in front of a video camera which recorded the images of the execution before spreading them all over the world.

The Quattrocchi story has become famous for the famous expression with which the

challenged his kidnappers: "Now I'll show you how an Italian dies".

Ansa / Northeast Red Star Collective

Another image of Edy Ongaro, killed yesterday in Donbass

The Farnesina: "Fighting abroad is a crime"

Regarding the possibility of Italian citizens joining the ongoing fighting in Ukraine, regardless of the belligerent side, our

intervened , which in a note released last week made it clear that "fighting in Ukraine is a crime".

The Farnesina in fact specified: "With regard to the news that appeared in some media outlets relating to the participation of Italian citizens in the conflict in Ukraine, the Farnesina recalls that

pursuant to current legislation (articles 244 and 288 of Penal Code).

Specifically, the two articles clarify that for "hostile acts towards a foreign state that expose the Italian state to the danger of war", a penalty

(or even life imprisonment "if the war occurs"), while "unauthorized enlistment or armaments in the service of a foreign state" are equally prohibited.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also specified that, "to protect the safety of Italian citizens", it is

".

Also last Friday, March 25, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that almost

have arrived in Ukraine from

, at the invitation of the Kiev authorities, to fight against the Russian invasion.

They are, specified the Moscow Foreign Ministry, "mercenaries and terrorists".

Getty

Iryna Sergeyeva, Ukrainian volunteer fighter

Mostly, right-wing extremists

Most of the foreign fighters in Ukraine - certified Francesco Marone in an analysis published on the ISPI website last February 25, after the war has just begun - would have far-right positions (a percentage ranging from 50 to 80 percent of the total).

By listing the most striking cases, without mentioning them explicitly, Marone spoke of

, who had already worked for the pro-European and nationalistic cause of Euromaidan in 2014, both in Ukraine and abroad, and who then joined the Battalion Azov.

Or, by

, probably the most famous among the Italian militiamen who moved to Ukraine: neo-fascist sympathizer and head ultras of his hometown, Palmieri (who "boasts" several accusations for episodes of intimidation and violence) went to Donbass for the first time eight years ago, when he was still under special surveillance measures by the Italian authorities.

Palmieri has never made a secret of his extremist positions, publicly supporting the cause of pro-Russian separatists.

Last year he was sentenced in Italy to five years in prison.

But among the Italian

who left for the front, there are also

, who fighting alongside Russia want to recall the glorious past of Moscow, when Ukraine was an integral part of the Soviet empire.

This is precisely the case of Edy Ongaro, cited in Marone's analysis more than a month before his death, who had left Italy in 2015 and, having arrived in the Donbass, had defined himself as an anti-

fighting "against injustices in the world ".

Before the outbreak of the conflict, Edy Ongaro had hoped that Russia would invade Ukraine.

Among the militiamen of Italian nationality,

, Venetian pilot expelled from the Air Force and now joined the troops fighting for the freedom of Ukraine.

facebook.com/giuliajschiff

Giulia Shiff, Italian fighter in Ukraine

It can therefore be concluded by saying that most of the foreign militiamen (including Italians) fighting in Ukraine claim to have

, showing hostile feelings towards the West and its values.

The onset of hostilities did nothing but exacerbate an already tense situation.

The main fear, in fact, which was then seen to materialize, is that foreign fighters, who had abandoned the theater of war, would return there.

Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that the prolongation of the crisis in Ukraine may arouse a

, made up of volunteers and mercenaries ready to offer their contribution, even at the cost of living.