After signing up a rush of volunteers at the start of the war, the International Legion recently has become much more selective in recruiting members, taking only those with combat experience who pass rigorous vetting
The deaths of three foreigners killed last week while fighting with Ukrainian forces has drawn renewed attention to thousands of largely unregulated volunteers who have gone to fight Russia’s invasion, some of them accepted into an international legion.
Among the dead was Willy Joseph Cancel Jr., 22, a correctional officer and a Marine Corps veteran who left Kentucky to fight with the Ukrainian army, his uncle said.
Cancel’s father was told that the former Marine had been killed when his Ukrainian unit was overrun by Russian troops last week, the uncle, Christopher Cancel, said. His body had not yet been recovered.
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