Ukraine’s Foreign Legion: The Fight of a Lifetime

Radio Télévision Suisse | 13min
Postproduction script

00:00:04,320 VO: -The road is deserted in the direction of Ukraine. The car of Denis, Damien and Luc have been driving for hours. These volunteers left from Switzerland to get involved in the Foreign Legion of Ukraine. They have no family ties or friends in Ukraine, but want to fight for this country.

00:00:26,931 Denis: -I'm expecting the worst. It's going to be a discovery, I don't know what we're going to deal with. We'll have to be reactive right away.

00:00:43,856 VO: -After crossing the Ukrainian border, their fate will no longer be in their hands. These volunteers are going to join the combat zones.

0’58 Ukraine’s Foreign Legion: The Fight of a Lifetime

1’05 Recruitment video, Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs

00:01:06,119 VO: With these recruitment videos, Ukraine is looking for new recruits. American, European and Swiss citizens are encouraged to join the soldiers of the of the Foreign Legion.

00:01:28,135 Zelensky video: -If you have experience and you want to act, you can come here. Your politicians are indecisive, but you can help us to defend Europe. We need your help!

1’29 Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, 27^th February 2022

00:01:45,986 VO: -In Switzerland, dozens have answered this call. For three weeks, Luc has been preparing his departure. Kevlar helmet, ballistic vest and radio, he gathers the material necessary to fight. Weapons will be provided in Ukraine.

00:02:10,846 Luc: -We have the bulletproof vest. Here you have the ballistic plates, anti-trauma plates that absorb the shock of the shot, plus the Kevlar protection. Then we have plates Kevlar ceramic plates, level 4. It holds a bullet.

00:02:42,935 VO: -Luc is a Swiss citizen, middle class, former military, in the centre of the political spectrum.

00:02:53,041 Luc: -The goal is not to go shoot the Russian, blowing things up. The goal is to allow people to free themselves. My goal is nothing else! I am not Rambo. The goal is to make sure that people people's lives are saved because of us. It's worth it.

00:03:12,191 Reporter: -It's not your war.

00:03:16,084 Luc: -The Second World War was also not our war, but Swiss people helped. This is our Earth, this is our humanity.

00:03:28,496 VO: -Luc is not his real name. He agreed to be filmed on one condition: a guarantee of anonymity. He risks prison by joining a foreign army.

00:03:41,632 Luc: -It makes you think, but if in my criminal record it says "Went to fight in Ukraine", I really don't care! I will be at peace with my soul. I will not be ashamed.

00:04:02,753 VO: -A few days later, on a highway parking lot. Luc picks up Denis and Damien, two French volunteers. They met each other on Internet forums. They all want to join the Foreign Legion. In front of them, many hours of driving before they can join the recruitment centre in Ukraine.

00:04:41,351 Luc: -It's ok, only 1,300 kilometres to go!

00:04:45,590 VO: -Denis and Damien work in catering and business. A difficult career change after years in the French army.

00:04:57,104 Reporter: -You look at the pictures, it's a lot of things you leave behind?

00:05:00,920 Denis: -Of course, it's a lot of memories. There's my family, it's good to look at the people you care about.

00:05:16,206 Reporter: -How did they take it when you said you were leaving?

00:05:19,270 Denis: -I have no wife, no children. I have parents and little sisters. It was complicated for them. I've been away several times on missions. Here the risk is higher. Even if they are afraid for me, they understand and are proud.

00:05:40,675 VO: -Damien knows the risk. He almost died in a hand-to-hand combat during a mission with the French army. A physical and mental trauma.

00:05:54,582 Damien: -I've had injuries before, I have seen military psychologists, then civilian. The military shrinks were crude. The wound never goes away, it's always there. It always brings back this memory.

00:06:17,895 VO: -In the car, they avoid serious subjects and talk about music.

00:06:26,595 Denis: -Disco, I love it!

00:06:28,573 Damien: -We'll call you Boney M.

00:06:31,884 Denis: -Yeah, go ahead, it's fine with me!

00:06:34,345 Damien: -You like rock music?

00:06:36,497 Denis: -I'm not a fan.

00:06:40,640 Luc: -I don't like metal, it's too violent.

00:06:46,012 Reporter: -How do you anticipate tomorrow and the day after tomorrow?

00:06:51,720 Luc: -We don't anticipate, we don't think about it. We act as if nothing had happened, we advance, we laugh. We don't know what we'll run into, it is now that we must laugh. Maybe tomorrow, we'll be stuck. For the moment, we do what we can to decompress and to avoid anxiety.

00:07:27,105 VO: -Before we hit the road, we had met in Switzerland another volunteer soldier. Sebastian has a different profile. This thirty-year-old has been close to ultra-right-wing groups. He has changed and describes himself as a repentant. He has just returned from Ukraine, he was there at the beginning of March.

00:07:49,764 Sebastian: -It seems unreal. When you're in Poland, there are refugees, you feel the tension, but as soon as you cross the border, it's another world. The roads have been bombed, the military vehicles left adrift.

00:08:08,844 VO: -He says that he fought for several days before returning. It's impossible for us to fact-check this.

00:08:16,234 Sebastian: -I got a call from my wife telling me that I wasn't doing anything. She asked me to come back home. So I came back.

8’31 Source: Instagram, March 2022

00:08:32,440 VO: -On Instagram, he told his followers about his war trip. Music, photos, he showed his daily life.

00:08:42,216 Sebastian on video: -We are positioned in a hotel in Kyiv. Small video with my friend, because if we have to die tonight, at least we'll have fun together! We are still smiling. We are waiting for a contact with some guys from a well-known group in Ukraine who know how to fight. In one hour, we'll know what we're doing: if we stay on Kyiv or whether we deploy elsewhere.

00:09:09,485 Sebastian: I like challenges. If I had contacts to fight in Russia, I would have been there. I had contacts for Ukraine, so I went there, but not for the Foreign Legion, for other more exotic regiments.

00:09:23,322 VO: -There is the Georgian Legion or the Azov regiment. Some members of the Azov regiment are right-wing extremists. Swiss neo-Nazis have joined this group. In a video relayed by the Russian media, a soldier displays his Third Reich tattoos in front of a Swiss flag.

9’42 Source: YouTube 15^th April 2020

00:09:51,274 VO: For Sebastian, this minority of extremists does not sway his choice: he wants to go back to Ukraine.

00:10:09,052 VO: Back in the car with Denis, Damien and Luc. They drove all night, all the way to the border. They announce themselves as volunteers for the Foreign Legion.

00:10:24,440 Luc: -Do you speak English? For International Legion.

00:10:35,277 VO: -We are filming with a discreet camera. For security reasons, the Ukrainian army wants to keep the registration centre secret.

00:10:46,782 Officer: -Marioupol.

00:10:52,927 VO: -An officer presents them the situation on the ground. The volunteers are interviewed. Phone, ID card and military record, everything is checked. Now we have to wait for their file to be validated.

00:11:07,920 Reporter: -Did he explain where you were going?

00:11:10,900 Luc: -He said we're not going to Marioupol. We can't send reinforcements. We would be based in Odessa and it would be to come down in the direction of Crimea. There are one or two Swiss, a lot of Swedes, some Norwegians, Americans, Canadians. At the passport control, there were two Australians!

00:11:43,231 VO: -The volunteers are sent to the front line. On the Internet, an American member of the Foreign Legion posted this video. The footage shows the risks and the intensity of the fights which await them.

11’46 Amateur video, Ukraine Foreign Legion

00:12:07,626 Man on video: -Inside, go!

00:12:12,163 VO: -Denis, Damien and Luc will have to deal with this type of commitment. Their application is accepted. They leave for a military camp in the centre of Ukraine.

00:12:23,783 Denis: -Now we're in for the real business. Of course there is always always a part of fear, but that's what's going to keep us alive. Fear makes us cautious, to do a serious job.

00:12:52,902 Damien: -Yeah, now it's getting serious.

00:12:54,929 Denis: -If we've come this far, we're not going to regret it now. When I make a decision, I make it! Life is a risk.

00:13:11,880 VO: -We can't follow them any further: they continue without a camera. The last news we receive from them is they are alive, but only Denis is still on the front line.

13’30 Credits:

François Ruchti

Ainhoa Ibarrola

Gilles Brisseau

Dafina Gervalla

Sébastian Fawer

Benoît Mayer