Kyiv: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said anyone willing to fight the Russians was welcome, from foreign volunteers and ordinary citizens to prisoners.
Prisoners
Zelenskiy on Monday said his country was ready to release prisoners with past military experience to fight the Russians.
Inmates will be able to “compensate for their guilt in the hottest spots”, he said in a presidential video address, the Daily Mail reported.
“We have taken a decision which is not easy from the moral point of view, but which is useful from the point of view of our defences. The key is now defence,” he said.
Foreign volunteers
Ukraine is establishing an International Legion for foreign volunteers who want to fight the Russians.
“Anyone who wants to join the defence of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals,” a statement on the Presidential website said.
Zelensky has termed the Russian invasion “the beginning of a war against Europe”.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted on February 27, “Foreigners willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, I invite you to contact foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine in your respective countries.”
UK’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she supported British individuals who want to go and fight in Ukraine. Following Ukraine’s appeal, a group of 10 special operations forces veterans are in Poland to cross into Ukraine, according to reports. The group consists of six US citizens, three Brits and a German and are experienced in close combat and counterterrorism.
Citizen volunteers
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Zelensky said he would provide weapons to any citizen who wants to defend the country. “We will give weapons to anyone who wants to defend the country. Be ready to support Ukraine in the squares of our cities,” he tweeted.
Ukraine has handed out 18,000 guns to volunteers. The country’s defence ministry has asked residents to make Molotov cocktails and firebombs to fight Russian forces if they enter Kyiv.
The agency said residents need to “inform us of troop movements, to make Molotov cocktails and neutralise the enemy.”
