All four Ukrainian Army units known as the “International Legions” are slated to be disbanded by the end of 2025, with personnel reassigned to assault forces - a plan that has already met public resistance, according to a BBC report.
The “International Legions,” also called “Foreign Legions,” are separate special-purpose battalions that began operating within Territorial Defense at the start of the full-scale war and later came under Army Command. They were formed under a decision by President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 27, 2022. As of 2025, there were four such legions within the Armed Forces, three combat and one training, each roughly battalion-sized. Volunteers from more than 75 countries — including the UK, US, Georgia, Poland, Belarus, Estonia, Colombia and Brazil — have served in these units.
Sources say the General Staff, together with the Defense Ministry, issued a nonpublic order in the fall to dissolve all International Legions and fold their personnel into assault units. That process is to be completed by the end of this year. The Fourth Legion is being converted into a training center, while the First and Third have already been integrated into their assault regiments. Fighters from the First Legion, for example, have become a separate battalion within the 475th Separate Assault Regiment CODE 9.2.
Commanders of the Second International Legion have publicly opposed the move.
“We’re just being liquidated into nowhere,” said Andriy Spivak, a deputy battalion commander, citing established foreign recruitment pipelines, a sizable cadre of English- and Spanish-speaking officers, and an innovative approach to combat.
Spivak stressed that foreigners joined the legion voluntarily. Because they can terminate their contracts with the Armed Forces after six months, the unit created conditions to retain them, he said, including allowing some to accept missions only after reviewing detailed operation plans.
“You can’t just force them to storm positions. They came to our legion because they trusted us,” he said.
Spivak argued that most foreign soldiers would view a “forced transfer” to assault troops as a betrayal and tear up their contracts. He warned it could be seen as Ukraine turning away from foreign volunteers. “We were a magnet for foreigners. With us, there’s no ‘bend’ or ‘screw’ — slang for coercion and deception — no internal witch hunts and the like. We’re a team; believe me, people ask to join the legion,” he said.
A service member from the Second International Legion pointed to what he called the “questionable reputation” of assault regiments, citing rumors of high losses, harsh command practices and a concentration of recruits from prisons. “It’s no secret assault troops are staffed to a great extent by people with criminal records… On one side you basically have a penal battalion, and on the other, foreigners who came out of conscience and are ready to risk their lives for Ukraine. These are different people and require fundamentally different approaches,” he said.
Andriy “Ded” Mishchenko, chief of staff of the 475th Assault Regiment CODE 9.2, told reporters his unit has already absorbed the First International Legion, with no integration problems. “As a military unit, yes, the legion is being disbanded. But all its personnel are moving to our assault regiment. Moreover, they’re coming in as an intact formation under the name ‘Foreign Legion’ infantry battalion,” he said.
Mishchenko dismissed talk of foreign fighters losing motivation over the transition as “nonsense,” and called claims of “harsh treatment” or “high losses” in assault regiments unfounded rumors. Bringing these battalions into assault regiments or brigades will improve command and effectiveness, he argued, adding foreigners will not be treated as expendable shock troops. “This should have been done long ago. The foreign legions, as combat organisms, were always attached to someone and fought somewhere with someone… Unfortunately, attached units are always treated a bit differently than organic ones,” he said.
