The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th sent shockwaves through the famed French Foreign Legion, as can be seen from the social media accounts of its soldiers. On Instagram, in particular, current and ex-legionnaires have been sharing appeals for solidarity and information about collecting donations, as well as exchanging photos of the conflict. Many appear keen to go and take part in the fighting.
Among this last group are a number of Ukrainians who want to defend their country of origin. The Foreign Legion, which is a corps of the French Army, currently has around 700 Ukrainians in its ranks. But legionnaires from other parts of the world also want to respond to the call from Ukraine's president President Volodymyr Zelensky for an “international legion” to fight the Russian invaders.
Indeed, there have been false rumours that the Ukrainian contingent had been given permission by the Legion to go back to their country with their weapons and equipment. One Instagram account called “Ukraine legion”, which claimed that it had got the “green light” from the military and was arranging journeys to the conflict zone, attracted 350 subscribers in just a few days.
After the French authorities denied these rumours they received a wave of petitions and requests for them to give soldiers permission to go. In the end the Legion's commanding officer, General Alain Lardet, felt obliged to publicly address his men, especially those from Ukraine, in a video broadcast on March 1st.
The general told the soldiers that he “sympathised” with their torn loyalties and said that permission could be granted for soldiers to go to neighbouring countries to be with members of their family fleeing the conflict. But he urged them not to “break their oath” and to “continue their service with honour and loyalty”.
The commanding officer's comments clearly did not discourage everyone. According to Le Monde, on that very same evening a group of 14 Ukrainian legionnaires was intercepted by police in Paris as they prepared to board a bus taking them to the Ukraine border. Out of these, ten indicated they wanted to meet their families, General Lardet said. But the other four are suspected of having wanted to go and fight. According to RTL radio, some 25 Ukrainian legionnaires are currently absent without leave from their units.
A “hundred” legionnaires in Ukraine?
Mediapart spoke by phone to 'Viktor' – not his real name - a Ukrainian who served in the 1st Foreign Cavalry Regiment (1er REC) of the Legion until 2019. Speaking from Ukraine, he said that around “a hundred” legionnaires and former legionnaires were already there. He had gone back to his country at the end of his contract and because of his military experience, and in particular his involvement in France's Operation Barkhane anti-terrorist mission in the Sahel region of Africa, he had worked as a military instructor and bodyguard.
At the start of the Russian invasion Viktor said he took his family to safety before joining the army. For security reasons he preferred to remain vague about where he was located, but he said he was in the centre of the country and had already taken part in fighting against the invading force.
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The Ukrainian soldier said he had recently come across four of his former comrades, two of whom had just deserted to come to the country. He also said that two other legionnaires were fighting within his own unit, one of whom had deserted.
Mediapart has also separately identified four other ex-legionnaires who have already become volunteers in Ukraine. They have differing profiles, but two of them have shared social media appeals from far-right Ukrainian groups, in this case the Azov Battalion and Right Sector.
Viktor, who has himself in the past posted symbols linked to neo-Nazi occultism on his Instagram profile, denied the presence of any Nazis in Ukraine and said such talk was propaganda from the Putin regime. The attraction of these groups, his explained, came from the fact that they had the most experienced fighters - “those who kill the most Russkies”.
Among others whom Mediapart identified as being in Ukraine, three were natives of the country. One is 'Maksim' – not his real name – who was in the Legion from around 2015 to 2020. Until now he has been very discreet on social media but in the last few weeks he has posted images of himself with a gun in his hand next to his fellow soldiers. One photo shows him with basic equipment, wearing New Balance trainers and French combat fatigues, an indication of his former role.
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'Pedro' – again, not his real name - is Brazilian and stayed on in France after his time in the Foreign Legion. He decided to go to Ukraine specifically to take part in the fighting. He has been working in the building trade in the Paris region since leaving the army in around 2018.
His public Instagram profile suggests that Pedro made his decision to go to Ukraine on February 25th, the day after the Russian invasion. In his mother tongue he wrote that “we can't be neutral in the face of evil” and urged potential volunteers to get in touch with him. “We'll leave in the next few days,” he posted.
And indeed Pedro left for Ukraine in the early evening of March 1st from somewhere around the city of Metz in the north-east of France. At midnight he indicated he was at Frankfurt in Germany, then the following afternoon he was at first Katowice and then Cracow in Poland, taking the A4 motorway which heads towards Ukraine.
Barely 24 hours after leaving France, the Brazilian crossed the border into Ukraine. And on the morning of Thursday March 3rd he posed in front of a mirror dressed in combat fatigues bearing the Ukrainian flag.
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- The original French version of this article can be found here.
English version by Michael Streeter