9 minutes agoAlbanian fighting a Ukrainian side against Russia: I don't get paid, I do for democracy
Periskopi(4 years ago)
(4 years ago)A 24-year-old Albanian is among Ukrainian-backed volunteers facing Russian forces at the border. The Albanian is in the group of volunteers together other foreigners in Georgia's National Legion, who fight the Russians to protect Ukraine. “We are united by our desire to stop Russian aggression,” [...]
“We are united by our desire to stop Russian aggression,” said Vano Kakvili, a 38-year-old veteran of the Georgian Army currently serving in Georgia's National Legion. “This is our generation war. We must fight for the freedom of Ukraine,” he added.
In this day's exercises, the five Georgians are all militant veterans of the Russian occupation of their homeland in 2008. While 24-year-old Emmanuel Bazanji is a former Albanian Army soldier who volunteered to fight for Ukraine because “is the last limit for democracy”, as he calls it.
What unites us is love for freedom, love for democracy and love for helping people,” said Baznji for Coffe or Die Magazine, follows abcnews.al.
We don't get paid here, we're looking for nothing from the Ukrainian government, we're just here to help these people have a better future. This is what unites us, to see people live happily and cheaply”, he added further.
Under the command of a former Georgian military officer named Mamuka Mamulashvili, Georgia's National Legion previously functioned as a first-line unit in the early years of the war in the eastern region of Donbas, Ukraine. Already positioned on the outskirts of Kiev, this entirely voluntary unit has become recruiting for foreigners who sign active three-year service contracts with the Ukrainian regular armed forces.
“Russia must stop with Ukraine and Ukraine should assume its sovereignty”, Mamulashvili said. “We are fighting for Western democracy, we are fighting for world democracy, in fact. And everyone must realize that it is a real war, and it is the true face of Russia that we see today in Ukraine. ”
Since the start of the war in 2014, Georgia's National Legion has recorded soldiers from 27 countries, including the US, Australia, Germany, Georgia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, the UK, Austria, France, Greece, Japan, Croatia and Serbia. And now, while Russian forces are gathered at the borders of Ukraine and threaten a full invasion this winter, Mamulashvili said there has been an increase in the number of foreigners applying to Georgia's National Legion in hopes of serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. g.v.
