As of early November, more than 500 applications from 30 countries have been submitted to the Ukrainian Legion, a military unit currently being built up in Poland from among Ukrainian volunteers living abroad.
That’s according to an analytical article on the creation of the new unit, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
Representatives of the recruiting center, launched early October at the Consulate General of Ukraine in Lublin, told the agency that over 500 applications had already been received. And although not all applicants them will eventually sign a contract with the Armed Forces, the center’s staffers consider this a “good result”, noting that this is just the beginning of their work.
“We receive the largest number of applications from Ukrainians living in Poland or the Czech Republic, but there are also people from geographically distant regions – the UK, Ireland, even Canada and the USA,” said the official responsible for psychological training who interviews applicants.
According to the official, 90% of applications came from male applicants, and 10% – from female. About half of the applications came from younger Ukrainians under 25 years of age.
“If we talk about military specialties, younger people are more likely to declare their desire to join assault units or become UAV operators. Older people are inclined to positions close to their jobs in peaceful life, for example, as part of material support units,” the representative noted.
He said that applications come from students who are ready to take academic leave for the period of army service and from older people who had worked abroad, including as construction workers or truck drivers.
Women, as a rule, are interested in medical specialties.
“But there are also those who were interested in sniper jobs,” the staffer noted, adding that there are no restrictions on the choice of military jobs.
Approximately 80% of all Ukrainians who applied to join the Legion, until now had no relation to the army.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, the decision to create the Ukrainian Legion, whose members will be trained with the assistance from the Ministry of Defense of Poland on Polish soil, was announced following the signing of the security agreement between Ukraine and Poland on July 8 in Warsaw.
Poland is one of Ukraine’s closest allies in countering the Russian aggressor. Warsaw provided Ukraine with 45 packages of military aid worth more than EUR 4 billion. Poland operates a logistics hub for military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. More than 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already been trained at Polish training grounds.
Source: Over 500 Ukrainians from 30 countries apply for “Ukrainian Legion” being formed in Poland
