It is known that the first Finnish volunteer who fought for Ukraine fell last weekend. The young man wrote about his experiences at the front for .
The Finnish fighter who fell in Ukraine kept in touch with ‘s reporter almost throughout the war.
A Finnish volunteer who fought for Ukraine was said to have died last weekend. has received confirmation of the fighter’s identity from several sources.
This is a man under thirty who left for Ukraine soon after the Russian invasion began in March 2022. He started exchanging messages with ‘s reporter even before he left.
The man was one of several volunteer Finns who relayed news about the situation of foreign fighters for ‘s coverage.
He sent his last message from the front more than two weeks before his death. He said that he was still in Ukraine and briefly described his mood with +/- (good and bad).
last approached him on Monday. He no longer received that message. According to information received by the man’s family, he apparently fell during the Ukrainian counterattack on Saturday.
Officially, the man is considered “missing” for the time being. The design suggests that death could not be confirmed based on the body.
For the family, even the slightest uncertainty about the son’s fate is heavy.
– The worst option of all, the man’s father tells .
Left on purpose alone
According to ‘s information, the man decided to volunteer shortly after Russia’s major attack in March 2022. His idea was to do “whatever needs to be done” for Ukraine. He said he deliberately went alone.
– If you took a friend with you and he died, you wouldn’t be able to live with him, he said in a phone interview.
The man arrived in Ukraine shortly after Russia had carried out a devastating attack on the Javoriv base. Several foreign fighters who were training died in the attack.
The Finnish man initially served in the Ukrainian International Legion. It is a Foreign Legion under the Armed Forces of Ukraine, where a large part of the foreign fighters were stationed. In March, the man wrote that the unit was “quite a circus.”
– Then when I get away from the front lines, you will get such material, he told .
“People who are used to NATO standards will lose their heads”
In the spring of 2022, the man said that he was very optimistic about Ukraine’s chances in the war. However, like other Finns, he also noticed shortcomings in the Ukrainians’ professionalism.
– The standards are somewhere between the Taliban and the Soviet Union. Someone used to NATO standards will lose their head pretty quickly on the front lines, he wrote.
Since then, the man served intermittently Nordic Combat Medics in the group that delivers medical and humanitarian aid near the front and evacuates people. For the most part, however, he took part in the battles himself.
According to what he said, the man was involved in, for example, the counterattack that led to the release of Herson in the fall of 2022. He had a darker view of the attack than the Western media.
– Yes, we will take the country back, but it costs a lot of lives every time, he told .
According to the man’s father, the boy received, among other things, a medal for his activities at the front.
After the Hersonis attack, the Finnish fighter returned to Finland and applied for work. However, he soon decided to return to Ukraine.
– He said that the 7-15 working days are not for him. He enjoyed himself there, the man’s father tells .