The decision to disband the “International Legion” shocked foreign fighters, Le Monde reports

The decision by Ukraine’s General Staff to disband the “International Legion” has caused confusion among foreign fighters serving with Ukraine’s Defense Forces, and many have decided to leave the country.

This is reported by the French newspaper Le Monde.

Foreigners are being offered transfers into regular assault units.

“It was a shock. We were told (on November 1): ‘Pack your things and go to Kryvyi Rih the same day.’ Since then we’ve been stuck here, crammed into a barracks where there’s been no water or internet for a week. No training, no drills. Everyone is demoralized; many comrades have left. Everyone is afraid of ending up in a unit where the commander doesn’t speak English. The ‘International Legion’ provided a safe environment for foreign volunteers,” a Faroe Islands citizen named Viking, who came to fight in Ukraine in 2023, told the newspaper.

“Disbanding the ‘International Legion’ is an incredible waste of resources. We are the only unit in the army where all officers are bilingual. The recruitment center and training are run by bilingual teams. We trained our legionnaires in an innovative defensive tactic combining two-thirds drone operators and one-third infantry. And now all of this is being thrown away to send them into an assault unit, which is a completely different mission. All these skills risk being lost,” said Andrii Spivak, chief of staff of the 2nd Battalion of the “International Legion.”

According to Le Monde, by 2025 the ranks of two of the four international battalions (not counting a separate HUR unit, which was not disbanded) had shrunk significantly due to heavy combat losses and, above all, desertion. Starting in November 2025, about one hundred legionnaires remaining in those two battalions joined the 475th Assault Regiment of the 92nd Brigade or other units.

Another battalion managed to keep 70% of its personnel and therefore did not want to be transferred to another unit.

A 53-year-old American combat medic named Karl is considering doing what many of his comrades would do if the 2nd Battalion is disbanded: “I’ll terminate my contract! I feel bitterness toward the leadership. We risk our lives to help Ukraine, and they abandon us. It’s a slap in the face. I had one year left until I could obtain Ukrainian citizenship (at the end of a three-year contract — Ed.), but the time count is reset because of the transfer. This sends a terrible signal to all of us; it shows a complete misunderstanding of the strategic value of the ‘International Legion.’”

Previously, Western media reported that all international legions would be disbanded by the end of 2025, and foreign volunteers would continue serving as part of assault forces.