By Olha Hembik | 2025-01-21

WARSAW -- Ukrainian women and men living abroad are expressing interest in joining the military to protect their home country almost three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The recruiting center at the Ukrainian consulate in Lublin, Poland, on January 10 hosted its second signing ceremony for volunteers joining the Ukrainian Legion, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced.

Most of the new volunteers reside in Poland, but they also include Ukrainian citizens residing in Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Lithuania and other European countries, the ministry said.

The new recruits include for the first time three female volunteers, the ministry said, adding that the women selected specialties in medicine and communications.

"I'm not a novice in the military; I served for 10 years," one of the recruits, 44-year-old Lesya Nesterenko, told Kontur in a phone interview.

After living in Poland for eight years, Nesterenko said she wanted to rejoin the Ukrainian military.

She had an interview and a physical exam at the recruiting center and was declared eligible for service on the spot.

"My son has been serving in the 115th Mechanized Brigade for two years," Nesterenko said. "I want to be closer to him, and I want victory to come sooner."

The Ukrainian Legion

The Ukrainian Legion is the first volunteer unit in the country's military made up of Ukrainians living abroad.

Potential recruits may sign up by filling out a form on the website legion.army.gov.ua. They must be Ukrainian citizens, but military experience is not required.

Formation and training of the Ukrainian Legion in Poland are governed by an agreement signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk last July 8.

"There are quite a few Ukrainian citizens in Western countries, including men of draft age who according to the mobilization law are supposed to serve in the defense forces," said Vladyslav Seleznyov, a military correspondent and former spokesman for the Ukrainian general staff.

"There's a certain legal contradiction. What do you do with those citizens? The Ukrainian Legion is one possible way of inviting [new troops], a recruiting campaign by the Ukrainian military that stipulates, among other things, certain incentives for Ukrainian citizens," he told Kontur.

About 700 Ukrainians living in Europe signed contracts to join the Ukrainian Legion at the first recruitment drive held last fall.

After completing a 35-day training in Poland, the first cohort of Ukrainian Legion volunteers left for Ukraine, where they will continue their training, the Ministry of Defense said November 12.

The service members may also continue training in their selected specialties at NATO bases in Europe.

Recruitment surges

This time, the Ukrainian Legion Recruiting Center has received about 1,300 applications for military service, according to Consul General of Ukraine in Lublin Oleh Kuts.

"Offering our volunteers the opportunity to undergo training at modern NATO-standard centers is a vital contribution to our shared victory," Kuts said at the signing ceremony.

The basic training course for this second group of legion volunteers will last 45 days, Ukrinform reported January 10, citing a representative of the recruiting center.

"Today, we have enlisted more recruits than in November," Lt. Col. Petro Horkusha, a representative of the unit's command, said at the contract signing ceremony, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

"This reflects the increasing trust of our citizens in this initiative. Motivated individuals are joining us, fully aware of their choice," he said.

Hands-on military training

The training will be conducted under the guidance of Polish instructors and will involve the use of modern NATO weapons, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said.

During training, Ukrainian Legion instructors draw on experience from the Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian Army TV reported in a video posted online November 27.

They start with patriotic education and discipline and then teach the recruits how to recognize a drone threat, the possible consequences of drone strikes and how to effectively camouflage themselves from a drone.

"The Ukrainian Legion fighters are trained in accordance with the training program of the Ukrainian military," one of the Polish instructors told Army TV in the video.

"The Ukrainian basic military training is geared toward tactics and gunnery training," the instructor said.

"It's more hands-on -- it teaches fighters how to handle a weapon and how to deal with challenging psychological situations," he said. "That kind of training isn't envisioned in Poland. Basic military training also includes studying the tactics of trench warfare."

Two types of contracts

Volunteers in the Ukrainian Legion may choose one of two types of contracts, Vasyl Bodnar, Ukraine's ambassador to Poland, said on a fundraising telethon for the Ukrainian military on the Rada television channel on December 24.

"The first type of contract is signed for three years. If the person signing it is younger than 25, it's for one year," Bodnar said.

The second type of contract is until the end of a special period, when the Ukrainian president signs a demobilization order.

"Those who sign a contract with the Ukrainian Legion may cross the state border unimpeded and go back to their families who are in European countries," Seleznyov said.

"This is a very important option because under martial law Ukraine strictly limits the ability of draft-age men to leave the country," he added.

According to the Ukrainian Legion website, rank-and-file service members may earn up to 190,000 UAH (about €4,380) per month, provided that they fulfill their missions in Ukraine.

"It's good news that those [Ukrainians] who live abroad didn't flee or hide but truly want to defend the homeland and are establishing a legion abroad," said Oleksandr Pohrebyskyi, a member of the Kyiv city council, an officer in the Ukrainian military and commander of a drone system battalion.

"Of course, someone who already has combat experience is more effective, but that doesn't mean that people don't need to be mobilized," he told Kontur.

The Ukrainian Legion plans to sign contracts with a third wave of recruits in February, according to Ukrinform.