There are tens of thousands of foreigners ready to take part in combat operations, but government isn’t bringing them in, - Butusov
There are no systematic efforts by the government to bring in foreign infantry troops.
This was stated on Radio NV by Yurii Butusov, commander of the UAV platoon of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine "Khartiia" according to Censor.NET.
Details
According to Butusov, Ukraine lags significantly behind Russia, for example, in the number of foreigners brought in to participate in combat operations.
"At the moment, there is simply a lack of funding and state interest in a sharp increase in the scale of bringing in people. Yes, efforts are being made, and funding is being allocated, but in fact, as of the beginning of the sixth month—after five full months of 2026—some 350 foreign fighters have been brought into Ukraine through official channels.
"That's a ridiculously low number—it’s just absurd. It’s hard to believe, given that there are scandals like this every day: someone gets caught at a TCR, someone else is being caught at a TCR, someone refuses to go, and someone else is causing a scene," he explained.
The commander stated that there are tens of thousands of foreigners ready to participate in combat operations.
"To do this, we need to bring them in from different countries around the world where there are people with combat experience and a desire to fight. We are not making any systematic efforts toward this.
Instead, we are making great systematic efforts to catch taxpayers and send them where, after 5–1 years of war, they are no longer motivated to go at all—to the assault, to the front lines. This, in my view, is an example of the lack of a systematic approach to war planning at the strategic level of the state," he concluded.
