How to help Ukrainians? This is the question asked by many French people who organize drug or food collections. Some go even further and have decided to respond to the appeal launched on Sunday February 27 by President Volodymyr Zelensky asking foreigners to join the Ukrainian army.
Impossible to say how many there are for the moment. The Ukrainian embassy in France says it receives many phone calls from men and women wishing to join the front. On Facebook, “the group of French volunteers in Ukraine” brings together more than 3,100 people and tries to organize group departures by car or van. It is indeed necessary to go by its own means to the Ukrainian border to be able to enlist once arrived. Everything is organized, therefore, on social networks.
Defend the Ukrainian nation
Among the candidates, there are many former soldiers, like Olivier Lengagne, 49, who lives near Le Mans and served several years in the French army before becoming a tattoo artist. He must take a bus this evening from Paris to reach Poland and a military friend who is waiting for him in Krakow. This father does not know Ukraine: he has never been there, has no particular ties with this country. If he wants to help the Ukrainians, it’s for ” defend a nation and above all the freedom of expression and to live as one understands it “, he explains to RFI by telephone.
” I’m not going there to kill people “. Olivier Lengagne believes that we must raise ” a wall in the face of Vladimir Putin who actually threatens all of Europe. ” In France, the people around me live quite normally. They go to the bar, do their shopping when there are lots of people who didn’t ask for anything, who are dying or fleeing their country. It can happen here! Who is going to stop this man if nobody does anything? This is Ukraine. Afterwards, it may be Poland and then another country. If nobody says anything, he will continue “, Details the former soldier who admits to having thought about it for a long time before making his decision. A decision that cost him dearly since when he learned of it, his partner left him. Not enough to make him give up his approach, which he judges ” normal “. It’s his way of participating, while Ukrainians between the ages of 18 and 60 cannot leave the country and must join the army. ” It’s up to men to fight, not kids “Explains Olivier Lengagne who prefers” die standing than lying like a dog “.
Seasoned volunteers, others without experience
Other candidates have little or no military experience, but are just as motivated. Thibault, a 19-year-old unemployed man from Burgundy, has only served three months in the army and is about to hit the road on Friday, with a driver he met on social networks. The suffering of Ukrainian children, the images of families he saw on the news deeply shocked him. He therefore decided to leave for do what he can. I have never shot a person. So I’m a little apprehensive. I think I’ll get there, but it’s going to be complicated “, admits the young man who is ready to die, with a limit however. ” I mentally prepared myself for this option. But if they launch an offensive with nuclear bombs, the best thing will be to leave, because there, nothing more can be done “.
Thibault and Olivier leave unarmed. In their bag, they put underwear, their fatigues, walking shoes, lamps, food and water. For the rest, in particular for the armament and the bulletproof vests, they rely on the Ukrainian authorities. For its part, the Quai d’Orsay refuses to comment on these departures and is content to recall that any trip to Ukraine is strongly discouraged for the French.
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