German, 23, has a round face and candid eyes. His body is slimmer than his ex-wife's. He also has his ex-wife’s name tattooed on one arm. "Let's just not dwell on it!" He blushes before his Ukrainian fiancee. He was on leave in Kharkiv (northeast). I met him at a park. Platoon leader of the International Defense Legion of Ukraine. He was returning from the hospital, where he had seen one of his men. A French-speaking, Belgian, or French man, he didn't want to tell us. He sighed and said that he was in a coma due to an injury. He is doing well, with only a small hole in his cheek and a vague memory of the mine that destroyed his car.
German is passionate about adventure and supporting causes that are beyond his reach. He enlisted in the Estonian army and wanted to travel the country. After his return, he lived in the USA, where he was then hired to be a beach lifeguard in Australia. He was there when he saw the Russian invasion of Ukraine three months ago. My family is Russian-American, so I couldn't sit by and see the injustice in this war against the Ukrainian people.
He got in touch with the Ukrainian Embassy, Estonia at the beginning of March and joined the International Legion established by Kyiv. After some training at a camp in the west of Lviv, he was parachuted straight into the middle of the fighting. He is friendly and a polyglot and learned some French at school. He also sympathizes and helps the 100 or so French-speaking members of the Ukrainian International Legion. He recalls Wilfried Bleriot (a 32-year-old Frenchman hailing from Bayeux, Calvados), who was killed in a Russian bombardment. He is remembered for his bravery and dedication to the Ukrainian cause.
He said that many Frenchmen have joined the International Legion. Some suffer from terrible injuries. Some have terrible injuries. Mykhailo podoliak, a senior adviser to President Volodymyr Zelesky, whom "the Obs", met, said that the Ukrainian army loses 200 soldiers per day on the eastern fronts. The much larger number of war-crippled is not known. We see them on trains returning from the front, dragging their limbs. Their ears are pierced, their eyes emptied, and their mouths are swollen.
German today claims that there are no "amateurs" left in the International Legion. "All the young people who joined Ukraine because they were bored or had too many videogames left." Listen to ex-legionnaires' stories. Skimming took place in April during fighting north of Mykolaiv (a city in south Ukraine). An American legionnaire, a Marine veteran, was killed in battle. The circumstances were not revealed by the army, but they traumatized his fellow Marines.
One thing is certain: the legionnaires were without radios to transmit messages via WhatsApp. Soon, Russian artillery attacked their positions. The legionnaires have not been able to communicate with each other since then. They do not communicate on their deployments, their injuries, or their names. German told me via Facebook that it was too late for him, and that the Russians had spotted him. They send me death threats every day on the networks. "Is the young man afraid for his life?" " Obviously. But I'm available. It is a right cause to die for Ukraine.
