About 20,000 foreign volunteers serve or have served in AFU

The growing number of foreign volunteers in the Ukrainian Defense Forces calls for a shift toward their systematic integration and the clarification of their legal status.

This was stated by Oleksandra Zub, a sociologist and expert with the project “Research on the Legal and Social Protection of Foreign Volunteers in Ukraine,” at a press conference at Ukrinform.

Oleksandra Zub

“The data (from the study) showed that, starting in 2022, the participation of foreign volunteers in combat operations and their recruitment into the Armed Forces of Ukraine has become a systematic process, and it is only gaining momentum. The study’s data for 2026 indicated that approximately 20,000 foreign volunteers are currently serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine or are veterans. This accounts for approximately 2% of the total strength of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU),” Zub noted.

She added that, according to the researchers, there are many requests to extend service or recruit new foreign volunteers, so it is currently advisable to transition from utilizing this resource to the systematic integration of this category of military personnel.

The expert noted that the aim of the study was to identify and analyze the social, legal, and institutional barriers that limit access to social and legal protection in Ukraine for foreign volunteers and their family members. As part of the study, 78 respondents were surveyed via an online questionnaire or interview, which makes it impossible to generalize its findings to the entire population of foreign volunteers.

“The key issues identified are an information vacuum (incomplete or contradictory information), bureaucracy and complex procedures, lack of legal status, limited access to healthcare and certain services, language barriers, and discrimination,” Zub emphasized.

Ruslan Myroshnychenko, a veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, retired colonel, and project expert, emphasized in his speech the need to develop appropriate instructions and protocols regarding foreign volunteers for Ukrainian Armed Forces commanders at various levels.

Ruslan Myroshnychenko

“At the level of every military unit, headquarters, and combat unit, personnel officers must have this ‘primer.’ They must know how to interact with a foreign volunteer, what information they must provide to a foreign volunteer while they are still a recruit, before signing the contract, so that the person understands what to expect and whether they are ready to sign it,” Myroshnychenko noted.

Tetiana Kavalchuk, a legal expert for the project, noted that since 2015, when foreigners were first allowed to serve under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, there has been “clear positive progress” in regulating the status of foreign volunteers.

Tetiana Kavalchuk

“At the same time, Ukrainian legislation regarding foreign volunteers still resembles Frankenstein… That is, it’s pieced together from fragments; it functions somehow, it moves things forward, but some pieces don’t fit together, some are superfluous, and some are missing. And when you come into contact with it, it becomes a little scary, especially for foreign volunteers and their family members,” Kavalchuk emphasized.

According to her, among the main challenges of Ukrainian legislation identified by the study are its fragmentary nature (the scattering of provisions on foreign volunteers across various laws), the lack of clarity in these provisions—which do not contain clear procedures and allow for multiple interpretations—as well as the presence of gaps.

The study’s authors recommended developing a comprehensive state system of legal, social, and institutional support for working with foreign volunteers, which should be based on the presumption of their legal status as combatants and ensure the prevention of practices that call this status into question or hinder access to appropriate guarantees and protection.

Read also: Integration of International Legions into assault units is logical step – Land Forces

“A Study of the Problems of Legal and Social Protection of Foreign Volunteers in Ukraine” was conducted and published with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukraine’s international defense legions have been integrated into the assault units of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Photo: Hennadii Minchenko/Ukrinform

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