A representative of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine International Legion Volodymyr, with the call sign “Vlad,” told about his combat path and peculiarities of open recruitment to the unit in an interview with Jenny Klochko for the podcast “Ukrainian Jenny meets...”.

During the conversation, the intelligence officer recalled how, in the first months of russia's full-scale invasion, he received a call from his military friends from the United States, with whom he had been undergoing long military exercises.

“They called and said: “Listen, Vlad, when should we come and help you?“, said the legionnaire, adding that the desire of his foreign friends to fight for Ukraine made a good impression on him.

As more volunteers from abroad joined the DIU International Legion, appropriate organizational changes were required in the process of building the elite unit to ensure high combat work results.

“We have cool guys, soldiers, warriors from almost every country. [...] No one had such experience, no one understood how to work with different people from different countries,” Vlad said.

He also described the conditions of recruitment to the unit.

“We are quite open. The recruitment process is mainly done through social media. You contact us, and they will tell you what to do next. [...] After the initial selection process, recruits are sent to a basic military training course that lasts over a month. For those with military experience, this course is a kind of adaptation to the realities - they have to understand what works and what doesn't from their military background,” explained the representative of the International Legion of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

For more details about recruitment, the Legion's combat achievements, and Vlad's personal story - his way of serving Ukraine, raids of his combat group during the Battle of Kyiv, as well as the russian occupation experienced by his family members - see: https://youtu.be/S1rrhETOZps