High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft to buy additional rights. ft/cms/s/2/76bac354-59c2-11e4-9787-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3H8myB4oM The volunteers who applied online to fight in Ukraine While there is growing evidence that Russian soldiers and mercenaries are taking part in the fighting in eastern Ukraine, many of the Russian citizens in the region are exactly what Moscow claims they are: volunteers. In a coffee shop in Donetsk, Oleg and Sergei, two brothers from Siberia, explained that they had decided to join the fight in Lugansk after witnessing a horrific confrontation between pro-Russia supporters and ultra nationalist football fans in Odessa. The clash led to the deaths of dozens of pro-Russian demonstrators in a fire. Oleg, a 41 year-old economist for a well-known multinational in one of Siberia’s biggest cities, said he sent his application to join the rebels in June through an internet organisation that helps place Russian volunteers. He requested to fight under the leadership of Alexei Mozgovoi, the much-feared commander of Lugansk’s Ghost battalion. Days before his departure in early August, his 28-year-old brother Sergei, a builder, announced that he wanted to join him. “People say we’re in a foreign country but we’re not. This is our land,” Oleg said. “This war isn’t just material, it’s spiritual. It’s a fight against the values of the western world.”
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 07:47:34 +0000