Former Norwegian politician fights Putin in Ukrainian Foreign Legion - "The real possibility"
Created: 05/21/2022, 22:51
By: Bettina Menzel
A former Norwegian politician volunteered to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion to fight against Russia.
(Archive image, Russian soldiers in Cherson).
© picture alliance/dpa/AP |
Uncredited
From Everyday Life to War: Why a Norwegian Politician and a Canadian Tech Entrepreneur Volunteered for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
KIEV - Canadian Igor Volzhanin was on vacation in Ukraine last February to visit friends.
He had planned to visit a comedy show, after which he should go to Switzerland - to go skiing.
But then the Ukraine conflict escalated: Russia attacked Ukraine on February 24, 2022 and Igor's plans changed.
With no previous military experience, he went to war against Vladimir Putin.
Just like former politician Sandra Andersen Eira from Norway.
She decided to fight just a week after the Russian invasion.
Ukraine War: Canadian Volunteer in Foreign Legion - "Die Real Possibility"
In the fight against the largest country in the world in terms of area, Ukraine needs support from abroad - not only in terms of arms deliveries, but also in terms of infantry.
A few days after the Russian attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the whole world to help his country fight Russia.
Former tech entrepreneur from Canada, Igor Volzhanin, accepted the call and enlisted in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
The 34-year-old decided to join the fight against Putin because he felt "it was the right thing to do," he told the
Toronto Sun in an interview
said.
Although he grew up in Ontario, Canada, he was born in the Ukraine.
In a way, this is his homeland and he wants to defend it, says the entrepreneur.
But dying here is a "real possibility."
It is estimated that 20,000 people from over 50 countries have already joined, including numerous Germans.
Many legionnaires change their mind after a while and leave the troops again.
And not everyone who applies can also fight for Ukraine, there is a kind of recruitment test.
The interviewers ask something like, "Are you really ready to die?" The
Washington Post
quoted an insider as saying.
According to one recruiter, anyone who asks more questions about payment and a bonus for confirmed kills is there for the wrong reasons.
In any case, Volzhanin passed the test and is now responsible for accepting new fighters himself.
Today he would no longer be accepted due to his lack of military experience, he says.
Ukraine war: Former member of parliament from Norway voluntarily goes to war
Norwegian Sandra Andersen Eira shares US Admiral William McRaven's speech in her Instagram bio.
“If you want to change the world, start making your bed,” it says.
"If you make your bed every morning, you've already done the first task of the day [...]" This would encourage you to do another task.
If you can't do the little things in life right, you can't do the big things right either, said the admiral in his famous speech.
Sandra Andersen Eira seems to want to make the big things right as she, like Igor, chose to volunteer for the Ukrainian Foreign Legion shortly after the Russian invasion.
The 35-year-old previously sat in the parliament of the indigenous Sami in Norway for four years.
She comes from a family of fishermen and was a fisherman herself in the Arctic Ocean.
The documentary "Sea Sisters" accompanies Eira in her work in this male domain.
Being a fisherman is considered the most dangerous profession in Norway.
If she had been afraid of dying, she would never have worked at sea, Eira points out.
But the war is still something completely different.
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When she decided to fight for Ukraine, she told almost no one at home - not even her parents.
Only her sister, brother and a few close friends in the US knew of her plans, she told Norwegian news magazine
abc nyheter
.
Nonetheless, no one was surprised by her decision.
"And anyone who knows me understands why I'm here," Eira said.
It is about the moral obligation and the desire to help.
“It wasn't long ago that our grandparents were in a similar situation and needed help.
Now it's our turn," the 35-year-old told
abc nyheter.
For Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, it is about more than a conflict between two nations: "Our war is not just a war between two countries or two peoples," she said recently.
“It is a civilization war against medieval barbarism.
[...] The war and the struggle are not only for Ukraine.”
