Ukraine war: Foreign Legion in the fight against Putin's Russia - including "the best sniper in the world".

Created: 03/17/2022, 14:14

By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi

In the fight against the Russian invasion, Ukraine has established an International Legion.

(Iconic image) © ARIS MESSINIS/afp

Not only Ukrainians and Russians are now fighting in the Ukraine war.

Kyiv calls on former foreign fighters - including a famous sniper.

Munich – In the Ukraine conflict*, only Ukrainian and Russian troops have so far been involved in fierce battles.

This map illustrates where the Ukraine war is raging.

But it looks like this will soon change significantly, because now more and more fighters are coming from abroad to the war zone.

More and more foreigners are fighting on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides.

After the call from Ukraine* and the founding of an “International Legion”, Russia itself started a similar project.

Ukraine is gradually developing into an international battlefield.

Apparently, there is one very specific personality on the side of the Ukrainians: a world-famous sniper from Canada.

War in Ukraine: Kyiv establishes International Legion - people with military experience wanted

20 days after Russian ruler Vladimir Putin* gave the order for a "special operation" in Ukraine, Russian troops continue to advance on various fronts and try to occupy Ukrainian territory.

There are also reactions from Germany to the Ukraine invasion.

Ukraine is resisting resolutely, but is severely outnumbered in both troops and equipment.

Although NATO partners such as the USA, Turkey and Germany are sending weapons, they cannot station troops in the country - especially since Ukraine itself is not a NATO member.

The “International Legion”, which was proclaimed by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj* on February 27, is intended to remedy this situation.

Against the background of the Ukraine crisis*, former soldiers or ordinary people with military experience should have the opportunity to travel to Ukraine and fight against Russian troops as part of this legion.

In this way, the government in Kyiv* establishes direct contact with the citizens of allied countries, bypassing the governments.

In this way, the deficit in troop strength should at least be somewhat offset.

Ukraine war: foreign fighters against Putin's Russia - Moscow also brings foreigners for invasion

In the Ukraine war*, it was primarily citizens of Western countries who announced their solidarity with Ukraine against the Russian war of aggression.

For thousands, the government's plea in Kyiv is now a golden opportunity to put this solidarity into action.

According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, 20,000 fighters from 52 countries have so far signed up to fight for Ukraine as part of the International Legion.

So far, however, these figures could not be independently verified.

The International Legion even has its own website.

It explains how to join the squad in just seven steps.

"Save the world.

Stand with Ukraine,” the website reads.

Military experience, experience in handling weapons and a cool head in stressful situations are required.

And in addition: The will to “defend world peace”.

It is still unclear whether, where and what the consequences will be for foreign nationals after they return to their own countries.

While countries like the UK* and Canada warned their citizens not to take part in the war, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said there would be no consequences for Czech citizens.

After Ukraine's call, Russian President Putin also appealed to people with military experience to fight alongside pro-Russian militias.

According to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, about 16,000 people from the Middle East are ready to fight alongside Russia.

This number has not yet been independently confirmed.

US officials believe that these are mainly Syrian militias with experience in urban warfare.

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Ukraine war: More than 500 Canadian ex-soldiers in Kyiv - world-famous sniper apparently there

According to International Legion data, 4.7 percent of those who joined the force are from Canada.

A total of 550 Canadian fighters are currently in Kiev, a Ukrainian International Legion source confirmed to Canada's

newspaper .

Among them is apparently a sniper with the code name "Wali", who is currently considered the "best sniper in the world".

He took part in Canadian Army operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he is said to have shot and killed an IS militia fighter from an extremely long distance - more than 3,400 meters.

He probably owes his title to this success.

Whether this actually happened is debatable.

However, one thing is certain: "Wali" now seems to want to fight in Ukraine and against Russia*.

This was reported by the Canadian broadcaster CBC.

Together with three other former Canadian soldiers, he crossed the border between Poland* and Ukraine at night, the sniper told the broadcaster.

"I want to help, because people here are being bombed just because they don't want to be Russian, they want to be European," said the former soldier.

Professionally, "Wali" apparently works as a computer programmer and probably has a son.

Now, however, he suddenly finds himself back on the battlefield: "Just a week ago I was programming things, now I'm using anti-tank missiles in a warehouse to kill real people.

That's my reality now.” It remains to be seen whether the foreign fighters will actually make a difference on the field.