Ukraine’s foreign fighters battle Russians — and red tape
Kyiv's government is vowing to fix the bureaucratic hurdles faced by foreign volunteers.
Kyiv — Jordan O’Brien, a New Zealander who has fought for Ukraine since the 2022 invasion, warns other foreigners against joining the fight due to bureaucratic hurdles he encountered. O’Brien claims the Ukrainian government has shown little sympathy for foreigners volunteering to fight, treating them like "illegal aliens." With about 16,000 foreigners from 72 countries currently serving in Ukraine's armed forces, the country may struggle to attract more recruits if these issues are not addressed.
A Nov. 10 deadline looms for foreign volunteers to file paperwork for temporary residence permits, or they could become illegal immigrants. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Liubov Halan warned that without changes, a significant number of foreign fighters will be in the country illegally after this date. Ukrainian officials have received over 300 complaints from foreign volunteers and their families regarding combatant status, contract terminations, and medical care.
Language barriers, particularly for Spanish-speaking Colombians, are a major issue for foreign volunteers, as well as the transition from paper identification to digital military IDs. The Ukrainian military ombudsman's office is addressing these concerns, and the parliament is working on legislation to simplify and extend deadlines for legalizing the stay of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
Written by urgent.news from Politico EU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
