🇺🇦The decision by Ukraine’s General Staff to disband the “International Legion” has caused confusion among foreign fighters, with many choosing to leave Ukraine, Le Monde reports.

Foreign volunteers are being offered transfers to regular assault units.

“It was a shock. We were told (on November 1): ‘Pack your things and go to Krivoy Rog the same day.’ Since then, we’ve been stuck here in overcrowded barracks, without water or internet for a week. There’s no training, no drills. Everyone is demoralized, and many comrades have left. Everyone is afraid of ending up in a unit where the commander doesn’t speak English. The International Legion provided a safe environment for foreign volunteers,” says Viking, a citizen of the Faroe Islands who came to Ukraine to fight in 2023.

“Disbanding the International Legion is an incredible waste of resources,” said Andriy Spivak, chief of staff of the 2nd Battalion of the International Legion. “We are the only unit in the army where all officers are bilingual. Recruitment and training are conducted by bilingual teams. We trained our legionnaires in innovative defensive tactics combining two-thirds drone operators and one-third infantry. Now all of this is being dismantled so they can be sent to assault units, which is a completely different mission. All these skills risk being lost.”

According to Le Monde, by 2025 the ranks of two of the four international battalions (not including a separate GUR unit that was not disbanded) had significantly declined due to heavy combat losses and, above all, desertion. About one hundred legionnaires remaining in these two battalions joined the 475th Assault Regiment of the 92nd Brigade or other units starting in November 2025.

Another battalion managed to retain 70 percent of its personnel and therefore did not want to be transferred to another unit.

Karl, a 53-year-old American combat medic, is considering doing the same as many of his comrades if the 2nd Battalion is disbanded:

“I’ll terminate my contract. I feel bitter toward the leadership. We risk our lives to help Ukraine, and they abandon us. It’s a slap in the face. I had one year left before obtaining Ukrainian citizenship [at the end of a three-year contract], but the clock has been reset because of the transfer. This sends a terrible signal to all of us. It shows a complete lack of understanding of the International Legion’s strategic value.”

🔴 @DDGeopolitics | Socials | Donate | Advertising