Thousands of Ukrainians in Poland have registered to join new Ukrainian Legion, says foreign minister

Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski says that “several thousand” Ukrainians living in Poland have registered to join a volunteer military unit that will help Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression. He has called on other European countries to launch similar initiatives.

In May, Sikorski first announced plans to train a military unit composed of Ukrainians living in Poland. The idea came as Ukraine struggled to recruit and conscript military personnel to sustain its war effort.

On Monday this week, Poland and Ukraine signed a bilateral security agreement, which President Volodymyr Zelensky said “formalised the formation and training of the Ukrainian Legion, a new volunteer military unit, on Polish territory”.

The text of the agreement does not specifically mention such a legion, but it does say that, as part of Poland’s training of Ukrainian military personnel, “Ukrainian nationals temporarily residing in Poland and other states will be able to participate”.

It also says that “Poland, at the request of Ukraine, will encourage Ukrainian citizens to return to Ukraine to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and other security and defence forces”.

Speaking today, Sikorski said that “in Poland, we are starting to prepare the first Ukrainian brigade of volunteers”, reports the Polish Press Agency (PAP). The Polish authorities will provide training and equipment to the volunteers, who would be allowed to return to Poland after serving in Ukraine, he added.

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“We have [in Poland] up to 1 million Ukrainians of both sexes, and several thousand of them have already registered to take part in this undertaking,” he added. “If every European country did this, Ukraine would have several brigades.”

In February this year, Poland’s state Office for Foreigners (UdSC) published figures showing that there remain around 950,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country, half of them children. There are also an additional half million or so Ukrainian migrants with residence permits in Poland.

Yesterday, Polish broadcaster RMF reported, based on inside sources, that at least hundreds of Ukrainians living in Poland have expressed a willingness to join the legion, despite the fact that registration has not yet been formally launched.

Notes from Poland has asked the foreign ministry for clarification as to how Ukrainians have so far been able to register despite no formal recruitment process being publicly launched.

Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, this week also welcomed the creation of a Ukrainian Legion in Poland and encouraged his compatriots in other European countries to volunteer.

“Our volunteers will receive state-of-the-art training from allies from Poland, Lithuania, and other EU countries,” he wrote in a statement on Facebook. “The legion will be equipped with the best equipment from our international partners.”

“This initiative demonstrates unwavering support and solidarity from our European partners,” added Umerov. “We call on all Ukrainians in Europe to join the Ukrainian Legion. Your contribution is invaluable in our struggle for freedom and independence. Every step you take brings victory closer!”

Main image credit: mil.gov.ua/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 4.0)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.