The Ukrainian Legion in Poland Receives Over 500 Applications from 30 Countries

As of the beginning of November, more than 500 applications from 30 countries have been submitted to the Ukrainian Legion military unit, which is currently being formed in Poland among Ukrainian volunteers living abroad.

This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to an analytical article on the creation of the Ukrainian Legion in Poland.

According to representatives of the recruitment centre, which has been operating since early October at the Consulate General of Ukraine in Lublin, over a month of work, more than 500 applications have been received from Ukrainian citizens living in 30 countries of the world who wish to join the Ukrainian Legion. Although not all of them will end up signing a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the centre's staff consider this a good result, noting that this is only the beginning of their work.

‘Most of the applications we receive are from Ukrainians living in Poland or the Czech Republic, but there are also some from geographically remote regions such as the UK, Ireland and even Canada and the US,’ said a representative of the centre, who is responsible for moral and psychological training and conducts direct interviews with candidates for the Legion.

According to him, 90% of applications were received from men, 10% from women. In terms of age, about half of the applications are from young people under 25.

‘When it comes to military specialities, young people are more likely to declare their desire to join assault units or be UAV operators. Older people are more inclined to positions close to their specialities in civilian life, for example, in logistics units,’ said the centre's representative.

He said that applications are submitted by a wide variety of people: from students who are willing to take academic leave for the period of military service to older people who have worked abroad, for example, as construction workers or truckers.

Women are usually interested in medical specialities.

‘But there are also those who were interested in becoming a sniper,’ said the centre's employee, adding that there are no restrictions on the choice of military specialisation.

Approximately 80 per cent of all Ukrainians who have applied to join the Legion have not had any connection to the army before, for example, they have not served in the Armed Forces.

The decision to create the Ukrainian Legion, which will be trained with the assistance of the Polish Ministry of Defence, was announced following the signing of a security agreement between Ukraine and Poland on 8 July in Warsaw.

The recruitment centre for the Ukrainian Legion is located in the Polish city of Lublin.