According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, U.S. citizens and other foreign nationals can now enlist in the country’s national guard. Kyiv reportedly wants to “keep its military intact” as it approaches the end of its two-year conflict with Russia.
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, foreign fighters have been a part of the country’s armed forces, but they have typically volunteered as members of the International Legion.
The Interior Ministry of Ukraine is in charge of the National Guard, which actively participates in the nation’s defense against Russian forces. According to Zelenskyy, foreign applicants for military duty must meet specific requirements, be lawfully admitted in Ukraine, and have no prior convictions.
The military of both Russia and Ukraine has suffered greatly over the past two years of fighting. Although the precise number of losses has been disputed, Kyiv urgently needs additional forces to continue its combat effort against a wider pool of potential Russian recruits.
With numbers on enemy losses released by Moscow and Kyiv on a daily basis, Western analysts advise caution as neither side typically releases casualty counts for its own armed forces. However, if they do, those numbers are almost always labeled as falsehoods by the opposing side.
Zelenskyy stated in the middle of December that the Kyiv military wished to mobilize an extra 500,000 individuals, but he characterized the idea of a new mobilization as a “very delicate” matter. Soon after, a draft law was released by the Ukrainian parliament suggesting that the age of eligibility for mobilization be lowered from 27 to 25 in Ukraine.
The number of foreign fighters who have come to Ukraine to join the International Legion is unknown, but it is most likely not going to be sufficient to maintain Kyiv’s personnel levels over time.
The requirements for International Legion volunteers are similar to those now qualified to join the National Guard: they must be physically fit and medically fit, have no criminal history, and be able to enter Ukraine legally. You can also be as young as eighteen years old to serve as a volunteer as long as you are a U.S. citizen.
