War in Ukraine: At 22, this young Breton left to “fight the Russian invasion”.

Yan will celebrate his 23rd birthday in Ukraine. A native of Pontivy and a small neighboring town in central Brittany, he joined the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine (Ukrainian Foreign Legion) in January 2024; A military unit of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Force, a volunteer foreign military unit, was created in 2022 by the Ukrainian government at the request of President Volodymyr Zelensky to fight Russian aggression.

Plane to Krakow, bus to Kiev…

“I arrived in Ukraine in mid-January,” explains the young Breton. I took a plane to Paris-Beauves Airport to go to Krakow in Poland. Then I took a bus to Kiev.”

After his literary graduation, obtained at the beginning of summer 2020 at a high school in Pontivy, Yann joined the Foreign Legion of the French Army.

Engagement, change of identity, initial training in the infantry and the craft joins its operational regiment. “I served two-and-a-half years… I was deployed to Niger and Chad in the French military force Barken, with 13^E A demi-brigade of foreign armies as machine gunners.

In the service of a just cause…

Yann leaves the organization in May 2023 and returns to civilian life in Central Brittany. He worked at a supermarket for a few months, then as a teaching assistant at a high school. “Even though it was nice, it definitely wasn’t for me.”

It is decided. He returns to military life:

My first, decisive impulse was to go and fight against the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory… I believe that it is my duty to defend this country, to help them, just as foreigners came to fight against the occupation of French territory. Second World War…

Another reason is that he did not like civilian life… “I wanted to return to a military environment and put my skills acquired in the French army to the service of a just cause.”

“Hunting Russian Missiles…”

The young soldier signs for a year. Based in Kiev“Well kept” in the Ukrainian capital, the craft is required to undergo training in several areas of the country, “some near the front lines, areas unknown to the Russians”.

Their days are currently devoted to training, shooting, military tactics, medical training, “sometimes 15 or 20 km from the front line… workouts Further afield, we fall prey to Russian missiles that target populations.

At the site, along with soldiers of many other nationalities (“We mainly communicate in English”), the Military Admits having all the basics of a soldier with a full beard, “food, something to bathe in and sometimes equipment for sports sessions. We still appreciate all kinds of donors who help us access quality equipment, both military and medical… These donations are critical to our mission.

“They don’t see themselves surrendering…”

From a young age he was able to exchange with Ukrainian citizens, Yan recalls that they had “a real anti-Russian feeling inside them, until they were victims of random bombings, affecting houses, taking people’s lives. Women, Children, elderly…

I think few Ukrainians think about the future… but clearly, they don’t see themselves surrendering…

The young soldier adds: “There is really no middle class, either people are rich, or they are not… There are many homeless people, especially in the capital… Most Ukrainians need military support. Financial too, of course, but this money is sometimes, often, embezzled by corrupt people…”

A very good image of France…

At the end of his first six weeks on Ukrainian soil, Yan believes that Ukrainians have a very good image of France. We share a common history with Henry I’s wife, Anne of Kiev^er and Queen of the Franks from 1051 to 1060… In some institutions French was taught as a secondary language… Some excited against our Caesar’s cannons, which inflicted great damage on the enemy…”

I think the Ukrainians expect military aid from France in terms of equipment, but also in troops to train them, and help them defend and stabilize the front line…

“A little apprehensive, but you have to concentrate…”

Since mid-January, the bomb blasts have had the biggest impact on the young soldier.

Even a few kilometers away, bomb blasts shake houses and beds… We can only imagine the devastating impact they can have…

Yan also claims that, along with members of his unit, are targets of Russian intelligence services. “They often post photos of us with false information, and try to assimilate us with the Nazis to promote them… They declared me a former special forces, a traditional Catholic, and even compared me to John of Bo. ..”

Within the combat unit, the Centre-Breton is not yet engaged. He may move several hundred kilometers from his barracks to the eastern front in the coming weeks. “A little apprehensive, but you have to concentrate…”

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