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Working with a group calledVolunteers for Ukraine, Ribardo described his role as “a Tinder for veterans and donors,“he toldThe New York Timesin a story published Saturday.
“A lot of us are watching what is happening and just want to grab a rifle and go over there,” Ribardo said of Americans who’ve served in past military operations and are compelled to return to the battlefield on Ukraine’s behalf.
His efforts include making sure those who want to sign up to fight have the skills that are needed and aren’t what he called “combat tourists, who don’t have the correct experience and would not be an asset.”
A Ukraine military attaché in the U.S., Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi, recently said his country’s embassy in Washington, D.C., has beenfielding thousands of offersto join the war even though a relative few make the cut. (Some of those seeking to head to Ukraine have murky historieslike past ties to far-right groups.)
Those who do get a green light must get to Poland on their own and make their way to a specified location on the Ukraine border, bringing along their own protective gear, before signing up to serve without pay with the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine,the Associated Press reportedthis week.
Ribardo, whose work with Volunteers for Ukraine includes connecting veterans with donated airfare and gear, told theTimeshe believes this war is different from other recent international conflicts because it “has a clear good and bad side.”
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“People need help right now,” said a former Marine from Tampa Bay named Hector (who like others preferred not to use his last name, for security). “I can help right now.”
Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyylast week cited 16,000 foreigners as joining the International Legion in “defense of Ukraine, Europe and the world.”
His foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, put a call out for volunteers on Twitter days after war broke out.
“Foreigners willing to defend Ukraine and world order as part of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, I invite you to contact foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine in your respective countries,“Kuleba wrote. “Together we defeated Hitler, and we will defeat Putin, too.”
The U.S.State Department has warnedthat although it is “not a crime under U.S. law for an individual to go abroad for the purpose of enlisting in a foreign army,” it could be a violation if that person was recruited or hired in America.
Serving in a foreign country’s military could also be grounds for “the relinquishment of U.S. citizenship,” the State Department said.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov has said foreigners willing to fight will not be considered soldiers, who have certain protections if they become prisoners of war, but rather mercenaries.
“At best, they can expect to be prosecuted as criminals,” Konashenkov said, according to theTimes. “We are urging all foreign citizens who may have plans to go and fight … to think a dozen times before getting on the way.”
Still, Ribardo, the former Army officer, said the response from other veterans has been “overwhelming” because “almost too many people wanted to help.”
A Dallas medic named James, who served twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan, acknowledged the intense toll of fighting in a bloody war but told theTimeshe was nonetheless waiting to hear back from Ukraine officials about his offer to help their cause.
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues in the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. President Zelenskyy called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
