海角大神

Why fighters from post-Soviet world flock to Ukraine鈥檚 banner

On Kriposnyi Lane in central Kyiv, captured Russian military vehicles stand in front of the National Museum of Military History. Just up the street, a bronze plaque affixed to a wall pays tribute to Imam Shamil, a 19th-century leader of the Caucasian resistance to the Russian Empire, and inspiration for subsequent Chechen resistance to Moscow鈥檚 rule.

The proximity of the two signs of defiance hints at a sense of common cause for fighters from across the post-Soviet world, thousands of whom have come to Ukraine鈥檚 aid since the Russian invasion.

鈥淲e need to stop Russian aggression,鈥� says Tor, a stocky English-speaking Chechen fighter resting in Kyiv between rotations to the front line in Bakhmut. 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 do it today, it will never stop. And the stronger Russia gets, the smaller our chances of freedom.鈥�

People from around the world have joined the fight against Russia in Ukraine, but for those from Chechnya and former Soviet republics Belarus and Georgia, the stakes feel especially high. They say their countries will never enjoy freedom or democracy unless Russia is defeated in Ukraine. And so Ukraine鈥檚 war is their war.

The exact number of battalions and fighters of such origin has not been officially divulged. Ukraine鈥檚 Ministry of Defense and the Security Service both declined to answer questions on the subject. But testimony from commanders and soldiers suggests thousands have flocked to Ukraine driven by a sense of shared responsibility.

Among them is Cmdr. Mamuka 鈥淯shangi鈥� Mamulashvili, who heads the Georgian Legion of Ukraine. He has some 1,800 men under his command, 65% of them battle-hardened Georgians.

鈥淭he guys are very experienced,鈥� he says with pride, speaking by telephone from an undisclosed front-line position in southeastern Ukraine. 鈥淭hey were prepared by NATO instructors. They can use NATO equipment. They can use post-Soviet equipment, and that makes them effective.鈥�

鈥淔ormer Soviet Union countries have been captives of Russia for 70 years,鈥� Commander Mamulashvili says. 鈥淭hey are fighting against the same evil idea of communism.鈥�

History of conflict

For post-Soviet peoples, the decision to fight in Ukraine is steeped in history 鈥� a history of conflict with Moscow since Russia forcibly absorbed Belarus, Georgia, and Chechnya into its empire in the 19th century.

More recently, Georgia had barely declared its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union when Russia began bolstering would-be separatist regions of the new country. Moscow invaded Georgia in 2008, capturing Abkhazia and South Ossetia in an operation that foreshadowed the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine opened its doors to Georgian refugees in 2008, prompting a sense of solidarity and gratitude toward this country. Ukrainian volunteers also fought in Georgia against Russia in 2008.

鈥淯kraine did a great job to support Georgians, so naturally we are here to help,鈥� Commander Mamulashvili says.

Fight for 鈥渁 free Belarus鈥�

Belarusian fighter Aleh Auchynnikau wears two knotted bracelets to indicate his allegiances. One is blue and yellow 鈥� the colors of Ukraine鈥檚 flag. The other is red and white 鈥� the flag of Belarus before it became a Soviet republic in 1919. That Belarusian flag 鈥� embraced by opponents of President Aleksander Lukashenko, a staunch Russian ally who has held power since 1994 鈥� is banned in Belarus.

鈥淭here cannot be a free Ukraine without a free Belarus and there cannot be a free Belarus without a free Ukraine,鈥� says Mr. Auchynnikau, a member of the Kastu艣 Kalino怒ski Regiment (named for a Polish-Belarusian 19th-century revolutionary), which was formed in March 2022 and is made up entirely of Belarusian opposition volunteers.

Mr. Auchynnikau fought alongside the Ukrainian army against Russian-backed separatists in the eastern region of Donbas nine years ago. Later he joined a group of Belarusian fighters who regularly trained together in the forests outside Kyiv, driven by the sense that a larger conflict with Moscow was inevitable.

The Belarusian regiment is less experienced in warfare than its Georgian counterpart, but 鈥渨e have huge motivation,鈥� says Mr. Auchynnikau, sitting in a classroom used for tactical training in a Kyiv building provided by the Ukrainian government to Belarusian fighters. 鈥淲e know why we are here. We were not conscripted. It is a call from the heart.

鈥淭he only reason Lukashenko is in power is because Putin supports him,鈥� he goes on. 鈥淚f we defeat Putin here, Lukashenko will not have his support and will be discarded. We want to go back to a free Belarus. Helping Ukraine is our direct road home.鈥�

Since Moscow鈥檚 invasion, Mr. Auchynnikau has fought in the battles for Kyiv, Kherson, and most recently Bakhmut. It was there that he celebrated his recent birthday 鈥� its cold muddy moments captured in selfies 鈥� as he gulped down morsels of pizza and cake between incoming mortar rounds.

The Belarusian government鈥檚 close ties with Moscow complicate Belarusian volunteers鈥� efforts to join the fight in Ukraine. On the one hand, President Lukashenko鈥檚 security forces seek to track down potential combatants; on the other, Ukrainian security forces are suspicious of would-be fighters.

Ukrainian officials and Belarusian 鈥渃yber-partisans鈥� vet potential recruits who apply through a chatbot on Telegram, an encrypted communications channel. 鈥淭he screening is very serious and thorough,鈥� says Mr. Auchynnikau. 鈥淭hey found three people who were agents of the Belarusian KGB.鈥�

Chechen against Chechen

The Chechens fighting with Ukrainian forces are in a particularly unusual position: Their ancestors were subdued and absorbed into the Russian empire in 1859, after a 30-year war; had to be re-subdued by the Bolsheviks after the Russian revolution; and fought two wars against Moscow in the 1990s.

鈥淐ooperation between Chechens and Ukrainians goes back to the 19th century,鈥� says Dmytro Makhtarov, a researcher at Ukraine鈥檚 National Museum of Military History. 鈥淭he destinies of these nations have one thing in common. They were occupied and invaded by the Russian Empire.鈥�

Yet now those continuing the battle against Russia alongside Ukrainian troops find themselves up against other Chechen troops, loyal to Chechen strongman and close Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov.

鈥淏oth sides hate each other and see each other as traitors who betrayed the idea of the nation,鈥� says Mr. Makhtarov.

For young Chechens, he says, the war in Ukraine offers an opportunity to gain the kind of military experience their elders earned in the two Chechen wars against Moscow, or more recently in Iraq and Syria, where some Chechens fought with radical Islamist groups.

Some of the Middle East conflicts鈥� veterans are known to have made their way to Ukraine, although Mr. Makhtarov insists 鈥淐hechens who come to Ukraine get screened by our security services.鈥�

In a Kyiv apartment used by Chechen fighters to store weapons and rest between front-line missions, Tor and his French-speaking comrade Maga, who both belong to the Dzhokhar Dudayev Chechen Peacekeeping Battalion, are not shy of voicing their ambitious goals.聽

Donning a balaclava before posing for a photo, Maga says he would prefer to have the chance to decide his country鈥檚 future at the polls rather than fight in a foreign country. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to kill anyone,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut we want to be free. I鈥檓 sure that when Ukraine wins this war, Russia will collapse.鈥�

鈥淲e fight here today so we don鈥檛 have to fight tomorrow in my country,鈥� adds Tor.

Oleksandr Naselenko supported reporting for this story.