Returning Soldiers Reveal The Dark Side Of Life In The Ukrainian Foreign Legion
“Because of rigor mortis, we had to break his legs,” one recruit recalled, while another spoke of enduring more in three days in Ukraine than months in Afghanistan
(Photo Credit : Hieu Le) - Served with the US military in Afghanistan. said his combat experience did not prepare him for the horrors of the front line in Ukraine.
When wave after wave of Russian cruise missiles rained down on the Yavoriv training base in Western Ukraine in the early hours of March 13, it was an attack of major strategic significance
(Photo Credit : Hieu Le) - Adams unit patrolling at a destroyed bridge in Kiev.
Another foreign recruit who survived the bombardment that day, pushed on to the Ukrainian capital is Hieu Le
Reflecting on the hours-long Russian attack on Yavoriv, which killed 35 Ukrainians and up to 180 “foreign mercenaries” according to Kremlin sources, Adam is still able to find a silver lining. The number of foreign recruits dwindled significantly when, in the aftermath of the explosion, Ukrainian officers gave them an opportunity to turn back and leave the country.
“There were a lot of adventure seekers. There were lots of people saying they were in the army and the military. But I think there were just a bunch of liars as well,” Adam said. “But we were actually very happy that this happened before we got to Kiev. Because that was the best selection of the people that you could fucking imagine—the best one.”
Originally from the Bay Area of California, the Vietnamese-American sold noodle soup in Medellin, Colombia until three weeks ago, when he was compelled to act by an impassioned speech from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy calling for foreign recruits to help in the resistance fight.
The sprawling military base sits just 10km from the Polish border and NATO territory, and has played host to several drills between the military bloc and Ukrainian forces in recent decades. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, on Feb. 24, it has also played host to thousands of recently arrived foreign recruits into the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, the newly-created international arm of the country’s armed forces.
Adam was one such new recruit there the day of the bombardment. The Polish carpenter, who asked to use only his first name for security reasons, had only been in Ukraine for a matter of days when he was awoken at around 4AM that Sunday morning by exploding missiles. Emerging from his tent, he witnessed utter carnage unfolding around him—including one soldier who had been severely maimed by a blast.
“His face was burned out. He didn't have hands, both of them. He was walking like a zombie,” Adam said. “He's calling you to help, but what can you do? You cannot do nothing for him, you know that he's dead already, that he's just running on adrenaline.”
(Photo Credit : Hieu Le) - Soldiers from Adam’s unit carrying the body of a fallen Georgian soldier.
“The distinct risk of catching a bullet in the back from some criminal guys [on your side] was a lot higher than comfortable”
(Photo Credit : Hieu Le) - Hieu Le Sold Vietnamese noodle soup in Medellin, Colombia until three weeks ago.
Like Adam, he said his previous combat experience prepared him only so much when confronted with the asymmetric nature of warfare in Ukraine, where Russia has bombarded towns and cities with rockets as President Vladimir Putin launched the largest military offensive in Europe since World War II.
“Even those with military experience, you’ve got to realize that there isn't a war that has been fought like this in a long time,” Le said. “What's different with the US military and all the other NATO militaries—they're spoiled. When it comes to fighting a war, they have air support, medivac, logistics, all kinds of different levels of intelligence, and support. Here in Ukraine, we had none of that.”
Both Adam and Le described the anxiety that accompanies urban warfare, something Le equated with fighting “in a forest.” The men’s home base, which Adam estimated housed more than a thousand foreign troops—Georgians, Americans, Brits, Eastern Europeans, and even South Americans—at an undisclosed location in Kiev, offered little more in terms of refuge due to the perennial threat of shelling.
“If you know anything about the war right now, you know that urban [warfare] is basically hell,” Le said. “Surrounded by the enemy—so many enemies, so much armor. You'd be walking, then you run into enemy armor.”
While commending the “impressive” Ukrainian resistance and everything achieved by the Foreign Legion in a short space of time, Le also described a lack of structure and leadership in its ranks. This is something he says has resulted in unnecessary casualties, and could be remedied by embedding a Ukrainian officer in every unit.
“There were a lot of people that didn't want to go on mission with these guys, because they just were untrustworthy,” he said. “The distinct risk of catching a bullet in the back from some criminal guys [on your side] was a lot higher than comfortable.”
He warns against those without military experience going to Ukraine, “as you will probably quit after the first airstrike.” On his social media posts that have since gone viral wherein he details his experience, Le has faced criticism—in part from soldiers he had served with—for leaving the country after two weeks.
“I try not to take it too personally, because they don't know. They really don't know this is an entirely different type of conflict,” he said. “The only thing I really have to say to those guys is they have the opportunity to come here too. And they didn't.”
Le is now spending time traveling in Europe in order to process what he has experienced before returning to Colombia to resume his life selling noodle soup. He says he is mentally preparing for similar feelings he felt when he returned from Afghanistan, where “no one cared and nothing changed.”