'Russians need to be taught a lesson' – why foreign soldiers keep fighting for Ukraine amid growing uncertainty

Editor's Note: This article contains graphic descriptions.

Soldiers interviewed for this article are identified by their callsigns only due to security reasons.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, shocking the world, thousands of foreigners flocked to defend Ukraine – many with little to no connection with the country.

More than three years later, many of them remain in Ukraine’s military ranks, while new volunteers continue arriving from abroad to join the fight, risking their lives in the battle against unprovoked Russian aggression.

Even as uncertainty grows around continued support from the U.S. – Ukraine’s largest backer – and the country’s long-term capacity to defend itself, many foreign volunteers remain committed to fighting for Ukraine.

"This is a war with a clear line of right and wrong," says a soldier from the United Kingdom, who goes by the callsign "Oni."

The exact number of foreigners fighting for Ukraine is not publicly known. Ukraine’s International Legion alone includes both experienced fighters and beginners from more than 50 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and various countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, according to Ukraine's military intelligence.

The Kyiv Independent spoke with five foreign volunteers who came to fight for Ukraine about their motivation, battlefield experiences, and plans for the future.

'Oni,' United Kingdom

Inspired by reports of Ukraine's courageous resistance against Russian aggression, a 24-year-old English-born fabrication engineer – who now goes by the callsign "Oni" – began to rethink his life and career.

"Ukraine has been attacked and has been constantly defending itself for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet it still stands strong," Oni told the Kyiv Independent.

"What inspired me the most is that Ukrainians don't give up. They always band together and keep defending themselves against an opponent that is eight times stronger."

Oni also sees his decision to join the fight as a way to free up at least one Ukrainian from being mobilized.

"With me being here, I can take up the job of the person who should have been mobilized. So, while someone can stay home safe and look after their family, I will fully put my life on the line to defend the Ukrainian people."

Oni joined the 25th Airborne Brigade as a drone pilot in May 2024. He says he also received military training in Ukraine from other brigades.

"In a short amount of field time, I've accumulated quite a few confirmed kills and vehicle hits," he says.

He recalls his first combat mission: "My first flight, I got over to the target, and I immediately and accurately went straight inside the blindage and achieved my first four confirmed kills."

Fighting near Pokrovsk, an embattled city that used to be a crucial logistics hub for Ukrainian troops in Donetsk Oblast, showed him "the true horrors of the war," which is "completely different from how the Western media portrays it."

Through his drone, Oni says he witnessed Russian troops executing Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) – a war crime under the Geneva Conventions.

"Instead of providing aid or taking them, POWs are just being straight up executed," he says.  

"This is a war with a clear line of right and wrong."

Even after the war is over, Oni does not plan to leave Ukraine.

"I would probably stay here and help train new soldiers. Because I'm very much aware that if the war does come to an end, it's not going to return to normal for a while," he says.

'Dundee,' Australia

When "Dundee" from Australia was preparing to join the French Foreign Legion last year, he was contacted by a friend with a different request – to come and join his fight to defend Ukraine.

The friend, he says, sent him photographs capturing the evidence of Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including the Bucha massacre — the mass killing of civilians during Russia's occupation of the town in Kyiv Oblast in 2022.

One photo, showing a mother and her children, lying dead on a bed, with their hands tied, struck Dundee to his core: "I just thought to myself, how can a human being do this to another human being?" he told the Kyiv Independent.

"But more specifically, how can a professional soldier from an allegedly world-leading military just murder children?" he says.

Though aware of the risks, Dundee still decided to come and fight for Ukraine. To pay for his trip, Dundee, now 38, sold his property in Australia.

With a background in private security, he joined the 80th Air Assault Brigade, conducting reconnaissance special forces operations – mostly in the Russian Kursk Oblast – after Ukraine launched the cross-border incursion into the region in August 2024.

During one of the missions, Dundee accidentally stepped on a mine.

"I saw this bright light, this explosion, and I thought our guys accidentally dropped a grenade on us because I didn't feel anything," he recalls. "I lifted my right leg — it was fine, aside from a few small spots of blood seeping through the material."

"Then I lifted my left leg, and from the shin down, it was basically gone. I thought: 'Oh no, I better get a tourniquet on it.' But when I went to apply the tourniquet, I realized the leg was still attached; it was just snapped at the shin, and the foot was blown apart."

Despite multiple injuries, Dundee says he had to keep fighting: "There was a shrapnel in my hand so I couldn't work my hand properly. It was just bleeding so much. The boys finally got everything under control, and they dragged me out of there," he recalls.

Dundee lost part of his leg and returned to Australia for treatment and prosthetics, but he plans to come back to Ukraine when possible.

"Just because I've sustained an injury doesn't change my view on what I feel I can do for this country and my obligation to humanity," Dundee says.

'Rabat,' United States

For "Rabat," it started with a one-way ticket.

"I saw what was happening here in Ukraine, and one day, I took a flight to Poland and never came back," says the 25-year-old American national.

A former U.S. lineman, Rabat had no military experience and had never met a Ukrainian before traveling to the country in 2023. But he recalls watching documentaries about Russia's annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea as a teenager, deeply struck by the events since 2014.

"I was truly disgusted with Russia's actions throughout the years," Rabat told the Kyiv Independent.

He says coming to fight for Ukraine was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

"I was never at a point where I was second-guessing myself," Rabat says. "When I was at the border, the only thing I was concerned with was how long this (the line at the border crossing) was going to take."

"It's the existence of a nation and a people that we're talking about. If people are not willing to support, if other nations are not willing to support, then an entire nation is at stake of being erased," he says.

Rabat now serves as a drone operator with the International Legion’s Second Battalion. He has fought in Donetsk Oblast and later in Sumy Oblast, after Ukraine launched a surprise cross-border incursion into Russia’s neighboring Kursk Oblast in August 2024.

"The worst I've had to deal with was the fighting outside of Andriivka (a small village near Bakhmut)," Rabat says. "In terms of the intensity of Russian attacks and the amount of artillery bombardments.”

"But the hardest one you have to deal with is watching your friends die," Rabat adds, saying that he has lost "quite a lot."

Despite the losses, he remains committed to Ukraine and sees his future here.

"I wanted to find a new home, and I think I found it."

'Kruk,' Sweden

Having traveled to Ukraine several times since 2007, a former Swedish civil servant who now goes by the callsign "Kruk" says those visits gave him the privilege to experience the country’s land and people — and eventually, to fall in love with Ukraine.

"I have felt at home, welcomed and embraced," the 58-year-old told the Kyiv Independent.

After the full-scale invasion began, Kruk decided to help Ukrainian refugees in Stockholm by hosting them in his apartment. But that didn’t feel like enough. Watching the country he loved being destroyed by Russian bombardments, he decided to come to Ukraine last spring.

He felt that if the Ukrainian people had to "walk through the fire, then why should not I?"

"This is not only a war for Ukraine but for the freedom of Europe," he says.

As a combat medic with the International Legion’s Second Battalion, Kruk has had very limited battlefield experience due to an accident during training that left him with a dislocated shoulder, requiring surgery and a long rehabilitation. Though he had to leave Ukraine for several months, he plans to return and sign a contract with the Ukrainian Azov Brigade, which recently began accepting foreigners.

"The fate of Ukraine is the fate of Europe's peace and stability," Kruk says. "Russians need to be taught a lesson."

"The EU and NATO membership might not be the answer, but rather the necessary change away from the post-Soviet reality and history to find its own unique persona in the European family."

'Sphinx,' Belgium

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, "Sphinx," then working as a postman in Belgium, was furious. He couldn’t understand why NATO and Europe didn’t step in to defend Ukraine, instead continuing to talk about "red lines" for the Kremlin regime.

With no prior military training and almost no knowledge of English or Ukrainian, he took a bus to Lviv, a city in western Ukraine, in May 2023 to join the country's International Legion.

After two months of training, Sphinx, now 37, joined the International Legion's Second Battalion as a marksman and was deployed to the area of Serebrianskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast. He later became a drone operator, taking part in Ukraine's offensive into Russia's Kursk Oblast, launched in August 2024.

Having fought in some of the most intense areas on the front line, Sphinx says the hardest part of the war is losing friends.

"You have two phases when losing someone," he says. "The first one is when you ask yourself: 'What am I doing here, maybe it's not my place?'"

"But the second one is not just revenge; it also gives you strength," Sphinx says.

He also understands that, despite the hardships of the war, "someone still needs to do it."

"President (Volodymyr) Zelensky asked for help, and I felt concerned about it because it's not only Ukraine's security, it's Europe's security, and the world's security,” Sphinx says.

Note from the author:

Hi! Daria Shulzhenko here. I wrote this piece for you. Since the first day of Russia's all-out war, I have been working almost non-stop to tell the stories of those affected by Russia’s brutal aggression. By telling all those painful stories, we are helping to keep the world informed about the reality of Russia’s war against Ukraine. By becoming the Kyiv Independent's member, you can help us continue telling the world the truth about this war.

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