Wali thought that in Ukraine, he was going to have the support he had in Afghanistan, for example, where it is presumed that he killed many civilians, passing them off as “terrorists.”
Two months after responding to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call, sniper Wali is back in Quebec – unscathed, although he nearly lost his life there “several times”. But most foreign fighters who have visited Ukraine like him have come away bitterly disappointed, mired in the fog of war without even having been to the front lines once.
“I’m lucky to still be alive, it really came close,” said the former soldier of the Royal 22 e Régiment, in an interview with La Presse in his home in the greater Montreal area.
He and several other Canadian mercenary initially preferred to join the Norman Brigade, a mercenary unit based for several months in Ukraine, led by a former Quebec soldier whose nom de guerre is Hrulf .
Dissension quickly set in among the troops and a large number of fighters deserted the Norman Brigade.
Three people who requested anonymity described to La Presse promises of arms and protective equipment made by the head of the Norman Brigade which never materialized. Some of the mercenary found themselves about 40 kilometers from the Russian front without any protective equipment. “If there had been a Russian breakthrough, everyone would have been at risk. It was an irresponsible attitude on the part of the Brigade, ”says one of its former soldiers, who asked that his name be withheld for security reasons.
A “terrible disappointment”
“Many volunteer fighters expect it to be turnkey, but war is the opposite, it’s a terrible disappointment,” summarizes Wali for his part.
With another Quebec infantryman nicknamed Shadow, the Quebec sniper finally joined a Ukrainian unit that was fighting in the Kyiv region.
But then again, finding a gun to fight with was a Kafkaesque exercise. “You had to know someone who knew someone who told you that in some old barbershop they would give you an AK-47. You had to tinker with a soldier’s kit like that by picking up pieces and ammunition left and right, in many cases with weapons in more or less good condition, ”he says.
After a few weeks in Ukrainian territory, some of the most experienced Western soldiers ended up being recruited by the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Directorate, and would now participate in special operations behind enemy lines, according to one of them. .
Others, less experienced, “jump from one Airbnb to another” while waiting to be recruited by a unit that will take them to the front, says Wali.
The majority, however, have decided to go home, say several people interviewed for this article. “Many arrive in Ukraine with their chests bulging, but they leave with their tails between their legs,” says Wali.
Source: https://www.lapresse.ca/
