Several thousand people register to join Ukrainian Legion in Poland

Iryna Balachuk, Andrii Synyavskyi — Thursday, 11 July 2024, 08:16

Ukrainian soldiers. Photo: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has announced that several thousand people have registered to join the Ukrainian Legion, a new voluntary military unit in Poland.

Source: European Pravda with reference to Interfax-Ukraine

Details: At the NATO Public Forum during the Alliance summit in Washington, Sikorski revealed that Poland is beginning to train the first Ukrainian brigade composed of volunteers.

He added that up to one million Ukrainians of both genders currently reside in Poland and many of them are willing to serve.

Quote: "Several thousand of them have registered for recruitment. Interestingly, many of them genuinely want to serve and replace their fellow countrymen [who need rest after combat], but they are saying: we do not want to be sent into battle without proper training and equipment."

Sikorski added that Poland will be responsible for training and equipping the volunteers, who will then be sent to Ukraine as a unit but with the right to come back to Poland after completing their rotation.

Sikorski believes that "Ukraine would have several brigades" if every European country did the same.

Background:

Previously, the media reported that the announced formation of a legion comprising Ukrainians living abroad to be trained in Poland sparked significant interest. Poland is working to involve other European states in supporting the project.
Poland will try to convince its partners that this is another form of investment in European security and should be supported.
At a press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that the Ukraine-Poland security agreement provides for the creation of the Ukrainian Legion, which Ukrainians abroad will be able to join and receive training on a voluntary basis.
The Ukraine-Poland agreement also envisages the development of a mechanism to shoot down Russian missiles and drones flying towards Polish territory within Ukraine's airspace.

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