2024-07-11 14:10 update: 2024-07-11, 21:00
Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Several thousand people have already registered in Poland to join the Ukrainian Legion, a new Ukrainian volunteer military unit, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the NATO Public Forum, organised on the occasion of the organisation's summit in Washington.
"In Poland, we are starting to prepare the first Ukrainian brigade made up of volunteers," said Sikorski on Thursday. "We have (in the country - PAP) up to 1 million Ukrainians of both sexes, and several thousand of them have already registered to take part."
He added: "Interestingly, many of them really want to serve and replace their compatriots (at the front - PAP), but they say: we don't want to be sent to fight without proper training and equipment."
Sikorski said that Poland will provide that to the volunteers and grant them the right to come back after they return from the front.
"If every European country did that, Ukraine would have a few such brigades."
Rustem Umerov, Ukraine’s defence minister has also called on all Ukrainians in Europe to join the military unit in a statement published on Facebook.
"This initiative shows the unwavering support and solidarity of our European partners, but also the readiness to stand arm in arm with Ukraine," he said. "We call on all Ukrainians in Europe to join the Ukrainian Legion. Your input in our fight for independence is priceless. Every step brings us closer to victory!" (PAP)
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