Foreign citizens who legally reside in Ukraine can join the National Guard, according to a decree President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed late Wednesday, according to Politico.
The National Guard of Ukraine is the military branch of the interior ministry, which has an active role in the war against Russia. Foreigners would become service members only if they decided to join voluntarily. Ukrainians can join voluntarily or be mobilized to the National Guard.
In February 2022 Zelenskyy urged foreign fighters to come join Ukraine’s resistance against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion. Currently, some 20,000 foreigners serve in Ukraine’s foreign legion.
There are also several battalions of Belarusian and Russian citizens fighting for Ukraine, as well as dozens of foreign fighters in other units of the Ukrainian armed forces. Citizens of 55 countries joined the war on Ukraine’s side, according to International Legion spokesman Damien Magrou.
There have been problems with the legal status of foreign fighters. Some, like Russians and Belarusians, faced persecution at home. However, the Ukrainian government has reported clearing obstacles to permitting foreigners to fight. In January, Ukraine’s parliament simplified the procedure of granting Ukrainian citizenship to foreigners who fought in different units of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia has been also actively recruiting from abroad for its attack on Ukraine. The Kremlin has recruited up to 15,000 residents of Nepal to fight in Ukraine, according to a recent report by CNN. Citizens of Sierra Leone, Cuba and Syria also joined the invasion of Ukraine.
As a new wave of mobilization looms, Ukraine is desperate for more soldiers to replenish the military losses and allow the exhausted front-line troops to recuperate.