Army Reform: Can Recruiting Foreigners Replace the "Busification" of Ukrainians?
The new military reform presented by Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is aimed not only at increasing enemy casualties but also at addressing the country’s critical shortage of assault troops and infantrymen. The alternative to the compulsory mobilization of Ukrainians is to recruit thousands of foreign volunteers through licensed recruitment agencies.
UA.News explains how, following the disbandment of the international legions, Ukraine is transitioning to a new model of mass recruitment of foreign fighters, and what has so far prevented the government from making them one of the main forces in assault units.
New Plans for Recruiting Foreign Infantrymen
The new military reform stipulates that half of the assault troops and infantrymen will be recruited from among foreign volunteers. They will sign contracts and fight in the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the same conditions as Ukrainian soldiers. To realize these ambitions, the Ministry of Defense is preparing a new mechanism for recruiting foreign citizens into the ranks of the Armed Forces. Licensed companies will be involved in the process.
“These are tried-and-true mechanisms. There are already several institutions and recruitment centers in Ukraine that bring in foreigners. They bring them in by the hundreds and have already brought in thousands. There’s a well-established mechanism… But in Ukraine, things work best when you allow freedom and set specific rules of the game. We recently opened up the private air defense market. There are already 30 companies operating there. Before that, we opened the market for drones, ground-based robotic platforms, and the private artillery market. We decided to do the same for the foreign worker market so that companies can obtain a license quickly and transparently. Companies will receive 300,000 UAH for each foreigner they bring in… payments will be made in installments, so that quality and training are key factors in determining how effectively a company handles this task. “We are confident that there will be dozens of companies bringing in thousands of people per month to serve in Ukraine,” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov commented on the initiative during an appearance on the PRESSING program.
A market for specialized recruitment companies is currently taking shape in Ukraine. To ensure they operate free of schemes and corruption, the government will soon adopt a resolution to introduce a new procedure for procuring these services.
The state is also creating other important conditions for the effective recruitment of foreign fighters. In particular, according to the minister, salaries on the front lines will become highly competitive.
Foreigners in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Disbanded Legions
At the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, many foreigners volunteered to fight for Ukraine. International defense legions—also known as “foreign” or “international” legions—operated as special-purpose battalions. Initially, they were part of the Territorial Defense Forces; later, they were integrated into the structure of the Army. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense formed the “Main Intelligence Directorate International Legion,” which brought together professional soldiers from around the world to carry out specific intelligence and sabotage missions.
By presidential decree, starting in February 2022, foreign volunteers could sign three-year contracts with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while retaining the right to terminate them after six months. The state paid foreigners the same salary as Ukrainians, providing additional pay only for service in combat positions. In 2025, the Ukrainian Armed Forces included four international legions: three combat legions and one training legion. Each legion had approximately 400–600 service members.
Since February 2022, the international legions have participated in numerous combat operations: a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv sector and the defense of liberated territories; battles in the Donbas near Bakhmut, Velyki Novosilky, Vuhledar, Lysychansk, Severodonetsk, and other hotspots.
The legions operated a systematic recruitment program—over the course of more than four years, they enlisted thousands of fighters from over 70 countries. Among the defenders were people from the United Kingdom, Poland, the United States, Georgia, Belarus, Brazil, and other countries.
However, in the fall of 2025, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with the Ministry of Defense, issued a confidential order to disband the international legions, and to assign their fighters to assault units, within which they are to serve starting in 2026.
The Army Command stated that “the formats introduced in 2022 fulfilled their purpose during the most critical period of the country’s defense and made it possible to quickly integrate foreigners ready to join the ranks.” Now, however, approaches to the deployment of military units are being refined, as the situation on the front lines has changed.
At the time, military circles cited various reasons for the command’s decision. In particular, they noted that foreign fighters agreed to carry out missions only when they saw a clear plan for military operations and a sequence of actions during combat. Comments began to appear in the media suggesting that the reform took place during an “information blackout”—without any explanation given directly to the servicemen regarding where they were being transferred.
Opponents of “dissolving” the international legions argued that foreign volunteers were fighting not for money, but out of loyalty to Ukraine. Moreover, the legions themselves had become a well-known military brand abroad. They argued that their transformation could make it harder to recruit foreigners to defend Ukraine.
After a barrage of critical reports in February 2026, the Army command was forced to provide a more detailed explanation of its decision. Although, in essence, they merely reiterated the content of a statement published at the very beginning of the legions’ disbandment. It emphasized that the goal of the transformation was to achieve maximum efficiency in the use of personnel resources.
“The international legions are not disappearing. They are transforming to become stronger. Instead of being separate ‘light’ battalions, legionnaire units are being integrated into the ranks of effective and experienced brigades of the Armed Forces. Now they are becoming part of a larger military structure,” the explanation stated.
What is the current situation regarding the recruitment of foreigners?
There are tens of thousands of foreigners around the world ready to join the war on Ukraine’s side, but the government is not making a systematic effort to recruit infantrymen from other countries. This was stated in early June by Yuriy Butusov, commander of the UAV platoon of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, “Charter.” In his opinion, Ukraine still lags behind Russia—and significantly so—in the number of foreigners brought in to participate in combat operations.
“At the moment, there is a lack of funding and state interest in drastically scaling up the recruitment of foreign fighters… In fact, over the full five months of 2026, only about 350 foreign volunteers arrived in Ukraine through official channels. This is a paltry figure and simply absurd. It’s just astonishing, given that scandals like this happen every day: someone gets rounded up at the TCC, someone else gets caught, someone refuses, and someone else causes a scene. And yet there are tens of thousands of people who are ready to take part in combat operations, and to do so, they need to be brought in from different countries around the world—places where there actually are people with combat experience and a desire to fight. They simply need to be brought here,” Butusov noted.
In his opinion, this indicates a lack of strategic planning for waging war at the state level.
In addition to insufficient funding to recruit foreigners, there are a number of other problems, including the lack of a clear mechanism for their legalization in Ukraine. It was only in May of this year that the Cabinet of Ministers simplified the rules for processing documents and staying in Ukraine for foreigners serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, or the State Special Transport Service.
Under the updated regulations, they will be issued a temporary residence permit for the entire duration of their contract and for an additional six months after its completion. In addition, the government has simplified the procedure for confirming a place of residence for some foreign fighters and has also eliminated the requirement for them to declare their residential address.
The issue of expired passports has also been addressed. Foreigners planning to sign a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine may apply for a residence permit even with an expired passport if the only way to renew it is in a country that does not recognize Ukraine’s territorial integrity. This is because, if they return home, they face prison terms and even the death penalty. Therefore, such volunteers will be able to obtain residence permits or Ukrainian citizenship even with expired passports. This primarily applies to citizens of Russia and Belarus.
Will Foreigners Form the Core of Assault Units?
Although Ukraine has had experience recruiting foreign volunteers through international legions since 2022, they have never formed the core of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s personnel. Until now, most foreigners have arrived individually, rather than in large numbers. Among the main challenges of recruiting volunteers from other continents, Ukrainian military officials cited: the language barrier, the difficulty of integrating them into the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and high casualty rates in assault units. Financial compensation was not cited as the primary concern.
The National Guard of Ukraine’s “Charter” Corps is one of the units with its own experience in recruiting and training foreign volunteers. The corps includes the 23rd Assault Regiment “R.U.G.,” where nearly all assault infantry positions are held by foreign volunteers, mostly Colombians, Brazilians, and Argentines. This combat unit has already proven its effectiveness in several assault operations.
The deputy commander of the “Charter” Corps regiment, with the call sign “Monk,” whose unit consists of 80% foreign nationals, believes that Ukraine could enlist hundreds of thousands of citizens from other countries to defend itself. At the same time, the current pay rate of 120,000–130,000 UAH is not a barrier to recruiting people, although an increase in such payments would serve as an additional incentive. According to the military officer, the implementation of such an army reform depends not on the overall concept, but on the organization of work within the units and on the performance of the commanders and sergeants who will be working with foreign volunteers.
