Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed that 16,000 foreign mercenaries are going to fight for Ukraine.
He argued in a video message on Thursday that “Ukraine is meeting the first foreign volunteers” as they are on their way to the country in order “to protect its freedom”.
Zelensky spoke after the Japanese newspaper Mainichi quoted an unnamed source as saying on Wednesday that about 70 volunteers from Japan are set to join the ranks of mercenaries in the “foreign legion” of Ukraine.
The source asserted that the volunteers include 50 former servicemen from the Japan Self-Defence Forces.
The Ukrainian president’s Thursday remarks come after he called on foreign nationals who are “friends of peace and democracy” to travel to his country and fight against what he described as a “Russian invasion”.
He added that “anyone who wants to join the defence of Ukraine, Europe, and the world” should “come and fight side by side with Ukrainians” against the Russian military. According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian armed forces are currently in the process of setting up a foreign legion unit for international volunteers.
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