Foreign fighters in Ukraine are responsible for widespread looting and theft, poor leadership, and other abuses of power, according to a new report.
The Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian pro-government news outlet, published an investigation into abuses and crimes carried out by the International Legion, largely relying on testimonies from the volunteers themselves. The legion’s leadership abused power by ordering the sexual assaults of female members, sending the troops on repeated “suicide missions,” and orchestrating looting and theft, the soldiers said. The leaders, including a Polish gangster, faced zero repercussions, according to the volunteers.
“We came here to help these people to fight for this country, against this invasion. We didn’t come here to do exactly what f***ing Russian people do when they’re on Ukrainian soil,” a Brazilian platoon commander reported his subordinates as saying before he resigned.
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Many of the charges were levied against Sasha Kuchynsky, 66, one of the three commanders of a group of 500 volunteers. Kuchynsky is accused by the volunteers of using his position as commander to enrich himself, robbing civilians and subordinates alike, while endangering the lives of his soldiers by sending them on suicide missions. Kuchynsky was accused of ordering volunteers to loot shopping centers in full view of locals. Equipment sent to the legion by patrons was almost always stolen, never making it to the troops themselves, soldiers said.
Complaints registered with higher-ups, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, all went unanswered, the report said.
The accusations leveled in the report are in line with many previous reports regarding the state of the International Legion. In interviews with nearly a dozen foreign volunteers in Ukraine, complaints of systemic stealing of equipment by Ukrainian army superiors, the usage of foreign volunteers as “meatshields,” and widespread casualties due to friendly fire were documented by U.S. media outlet Ishgal.
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Zelensky announced the formation of the International Legion on Feb. 27, three days after Russia’s invasion, inviting fighters from around the world to come defend Ukraine. Ukrainian government officials claimed that 20,000 such volunteers answered the call, according to the Week.
The volunteers themselves estimate that the contingent covered in the investigation, consisting of 500 soldiers, makes up one-third of the entire International Legion, totaling just 1,500 soldiers. Many volunteers have been either killed or deserted over disillusionment with the legion’s conduct.
