Ukraine’s National Guard opens centralized recruitment center for foreign volunteers

Ukraine’s National Guard has opened a centralized recruitment center aimed at increasing the number of foreign volunteers in its ranks, Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi announced on September 18.

“The center will coordinate the recruitment of foreign volunteers for contract service and accompany them through every stage: from interviews and checks to training,” Koretskyi said in a social media post. “The candidate’s path to service must be as fast as possible. Combat units must receive the necessary reinforcements more quickly,” he added.

Ukraine’s National Guard is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, unlike the regular military forces, but includes some of the country’s most effective units, such as the First Azov Corps and the Second Khartiia Corps.

Ukraine is increasingly turning to recruiting foreign volunteers to replace losses and fill domestic manpower reserves. “Our goal is to fill up to 30 to 50% of assault and infantry positions with foreigners,” former Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said in June.

“Recruiting foreign volunteers into the Defense Forces is one of the state’s priorities. The task is to scale up this work and attract more people to the Ukrainian army who are ready to defend our state together with Ukrainians,” Koretskyi said. The Ukrainian government also approved a draft law aimed at giving foreign and stateless citizens who have served in the Ukrainian army more time to formalize their residency status after the end of their contract, he announced on August 28 on Telegram.

Burimi: The Kyiv Independent