The British Iraq veteran Jack Priday (25) now reported to the “Economist” about his brief stint in Ukraine: the long-time professional soldier who served with the Royal Engineers left the war zone after just nine hours. One reason for this: the rather low salary that the Ukrainian government is supposed to pay the foreign volunteers – according to Priday only 225 euros per month.
And the contract that the Briton was supposed to sign also said that he could only leave the country once the war was over. And that’s up to the President. Commitment to military service could thus last for years.
The British veteran was also irritated by the “training program” presented: First a five-day training course, then shooting training at the shooting range – then transport to the front. Priday was shocked at the “naivety” of wanting to face one of the world’s largest armies.
The Briton hitchhiked back to Poland and from there to his homeland. 12,000 other foreigners want to continue fighting for Ukraine, among them are veterans from 52 nations as well as the world-renowned sniper “Wali” from Canada. His commitment to the Ukrainian government will probably be worth a little more than 225 euros a month.
The Russian army is also sending foreign fighters to the front sections in front of Kyiv and in eastern Ukraine: in addition to Chechen special units, more and more Syrian civil war veterans are now supposed to reinforce the invading army (we reported). They are said to receive up to 3,000 euros a month in salary, which is 50 times more than they would otherwise receive in Syria.
