Georgian Legion of Ukraine. ‘Our enemy is one’ |
Georgian Vadim Chetiani He is in a hospital in Ukraine. He along with Georgians, other foreigners and Ukrainians in September Russia He was seriously injured while fighting against the invaders.
45-year-old Chkhetiani Ukraine He is a soldier of the Armed Forces, fighting in the 128th mountain assault brigade.
Ukraine It is known that hundreds of ethnic Georgians fought in the army. Many of them are members of the Georgian Legion, which has been operating in this country for years. There are other foreigners in this legion.
Founded in 2014 after Russia created a hotbed of conflict in the Donbas region, the Georgian Legion later Ukraine Joined the Armed Forces.
From 800 of the Legion 10It is said that he has up to 00 fighters. Half of them are Georgians, and the other half are soldiers from other nationalities.
The Georgian Legion recently suffered several casualties near the town of Bakhmut, east of Donetsk. This city in recent weeks Russia was subjected to severe attacks by the army.
Russia President Vladimir PutinShortly after ordering a full-scale attack on Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to citizens of foreign countries and urged them to take up arms and defend Ukraine. Kyiv officials have also created a special website to facilitate this process.
It is said that thousands of volunteers from dozens of countries came to Ukraine after this call. However, there are those who doubt these numbers.
Although the exact number of foreigners fighting in the Ukrainian army is not known, the number of casualties is gradually increasing. One estimate shows that casualties among fighters from Georgia, with a total population of 3.7 million, were higher than those of any other nation.
In one of the latest incidents near Bakhmut in early December, five Georgians were reportedly killed.
Military Although experts say that Bakhmut, which had a population of 80,000 people before the start of the war, was of little strategic importance, the Russian army, including mercenaries from the “Wagner” group, have been continuously bombarding the city in recent days.
Founder and commander of the Georgian Legion Mamuka Mamulashvili on December 5, he told Georgian media that 33 volunteers who left Georgia lost their lives during the war.
On December 15, the Georgian service of RFE/RL reported that this number had reached 35. The name of one of these soldiers Sergo Lysikhis On December 13th perished has been
Despite all the danger and the recent losses faced by the Georgian Legion, Chkhetiani considers it the right decision to join the Ukrainian army: “What convinced me this year is that this war is not only for Ukraine or even for Georgia. This war is for the whole world. Our countries – our small country and the one much bigger than us of Ukraine have a common enemy,” – he says.
Czechia 20He also fought in the war started by Russia against Georgia in 2008. He too NATOparticipated in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Some of the other Georgians who fought in Ukraine were in Afghanistan.
to the Ukrainian army 2018Chkhetiani, who joined in , took part in many battles.
Ukrainian officials from 52 countries in the first days of the war 20 they say that a thousand volunteers came. However, it is not known how many of them took up arms and fought.
Advisor to the President Oleksiy Arestovich on July 1 1000 of a foreign citizen of Ukraine said that he participated in the battles on his side.
Russia Matters website of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center in August Eastern Europe and wrote that the majority of volunteers came from the former Soviet republics. It is noted that the names of Poland, Georgia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania are mentioned more often.