Uzbeks sign up to fight in Ukraine - UzNews.net
A group of volunteer fighters from Central Asia, including Uzbeks, has petitioned the Ukrainian president to allow them to form an international military unit.
Facebook petitions calling for volunteers for a guerrilla unit to fight in Ukraine have been circulating since the beginning of September. The statement reads, “Friends, my plan is a simple one: fighting without the government’s help. Guerrilla style. Forget the authorities. I am forming a small volunteer unit, 5-6 people. From 20 to 40 [years of age].”
The author of the appeal is a young Uzbek named Sherzod. He initially came to Ukraine as a migrant worker but spent most of the past winter and spring as a Maidan activist.
He is currently signed up with a volunteer unit called Ajdar, which was formed from the remnants of Maidan’s self-defense unit. The unit intends to patrol roads in Luganskaya province and free it from Russian mercenaries and the Russian army. He has a rifle and he knows how to use it – he can hit a target from a hundred meters away eight out of ten times.
“I am looking for an agile group for carrying out special assignments. I am looking for foreigners,” he tells Uznews.net. “People have been inquiring but they do not want to disclose who they are and where they come from. Ukraine has been known to extradite asylum seeks back to Uzbekistan.”
Waiting for Poroshenko’s go-ahead
Sherzod is the not the only Central Asia native putting together a fighting unit and prefers to keep his plan under wraps.
Ajdos Sadykov, a human rights activist from Kazakhstan, who has been living in Kiev after being persecuted in his native Aktyubinsk, joined the International League of Maidan in July and has started a volunteer unit of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
Volunteer fighters from all over the world interested in standing up for Ukraine’s interests have been reaching out to Sadykov. Many believe that if Kiev were to lose this fight, the World would lose as well as Russia would not stop in Ukraine and carry on taking over other countries’ territories as well, including those in Central Asia.
The international volunteer fighters want to act only with the permission of the Ukrainian government. So they are awaiting for a decision by Ukraine’s President Poroshenko, says Sadykov, to whom they have petitioned to formally organize an international unit.
“We do not want to hurt Ukraine with any rash action,” he explains. “Putin will resort to any means possible to escalate the situation.”
A prayer after a fight
Uzbek fighters are among the militants in the unit called Crimea, which was formed in part by Mustafa Jemiliv, the ex-leader of the Crimean Mejzhlis and Ukrainian member of parliament.
Sergej Solovej, deputy commander of the unit, says that the bulk of the unit consists of Crimea natives, including Tatars and Uzbeks. All the fighters are Muslim.
Sergej B. is one of them. He and his parents have recently moved from Uzbekistan to Ukraine.
“Our unit is based of mutual support,” says Sergej. “We believe in Allah and it’s easier for us to stick together. I am not so sure that a Muslim prayer would be perceived as the norm in other units. But we are being supplied free board and space for prayer.”
The Crimea unit is not just for show. It fought in the Saur Grave battle near Donetsk and another one near Illovajsk.
Just as with other volunteer units these men get paid 4.2 thousand Hryvnia (about 350 USD per month) and dream of winning the biggest battle of their lives – the one for Crimea.
Central Asia in the Ukraine-Russia conflict
Experts believe that there are several hundred people from Central Asia currently fighting in Ukraine.
They are fighting on both sides. Ajdos Sadykov quotes the legendary Donbass unit commander Semen Semenchenko – who was wounded on August 19 during the battle near Illovajsk – who reported that he had met Russian separatists from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Donetsk and Lugansk.
Their salaries are higher than those paid by the Ukrainian army – 500 USD per month when not fighting, and 1,000 USD per month when fighting.
Ukrainian fighters say that Muslims fighting alongside them are a powerful psychological weapon: Russian units who fought in Chechnya get demoralized when they hear a hearty “Allah Akbar” from the Crimea unit.
Guerrilla fighters to help the army
Meantime fighting in Donbass continues despite the September 5 peace agreement signed in Minsk.
The agreement gives eastern Ukraine a special status with significantly increased autonomy, lays the groundwork to free hostages, and offers a chance of amnesty for all separatists.
Dmitriy Tymchuk, the head of military and political think tank Sprotyv based in Kiev, says that guerrillas should be absorbed into the Ukrainian army, and used in particular for reconnaissance purposes in order to prepare territory for the Ukrainian army to enter.
Uznews.net
A group of volunteer fighters from Central Asia, including Uzbeks, has petitioned the Ukrainian president to allow them to form an international military unit.
Facebook petitions calling for volunteers for a guerrilla unit to fight in Ukraine have been circulating since the beginning of September. The statement reads, “Friends, my plan is a simple one: fighting without the government’s help. Guerrilla style. Forget the authorities. I am forming a small volunteer unit, 5-6 people. From 20 to 40 [years of age].”
The author of the appeal is a young Uzbek named Sherzod. He initially came to Ukraine as a migrant worker but spent most of the past winter and spring as a Maidan activist.
He is currently signed up with a volunteer unit called Ajdar, which was formed from the remnants of Maidan’s self-defense unit. The unit intends to patrol roads in Luganskaya province and free it from Russian mercenaries and the Russian army. He has a rifle and he knows how to use it – he can hit a target from a hundred meters away eight out of ten times.
“I am looking for an agile group for carrying out special assignments. I am looking for foreigners,” he tells Uznews.net. “People have been inquiring but they do not want to disclose who they are and where they come from. Ukraine has been known to extradite asylum seeks back to Uzbekistan.”
Waiting for Poroshenko’s go-ahead
Sherzod is the not the only Central Asia native putting together a fighting unit and prefers to keep his plan under wraps.
Ajdos Sadykov, a human rights activist from Kazakhstan, who has been living in Kiev after being persecuted in his native Aktyubinsk, joined the International League of Maidan in July and has started a volunteer unit of foreign fighters in Ukraine.
Volunteer fighters from all over the world interested in standing up for Ukraine’s interests have been reaching out to Sadykov. Many believe that if Kiev were to lose this fight, the World would lose as well as Russia would not stop in Ukraine and carry on taking over other countries’ territories as well, including those in Central Asia.
The international volunteer fighters want to act only with the permission of the Ukrainian government. So they are awaiting for a decision by Ukraine’s President Poroshenko, says Sadykov, to whom they have petitioned to formally organize an international unit.
“We do not want to hurt Ukraine with any rash action,” he explains. “Putin will resort to any means possible to escalate the situation.”
A prayer after a fight
Uzbek fighters are among the militants in the unit called Crimea, which was formed in part by Mustafa Jemiliv, the ex-leader of the Crimean Mejzhlis and Ukrainian member of parliament.
Sergej Solovej, deputy commander of the unit, says that the bulk of the unit consists of Crimea natives, including Tatars and Uzbeks. All the fighters are Muslim.
Sergej B. is one of them. He and his parents have recently moved from Uzbekistan to Ukraine.
“Our unit is based of mutual support,” says Sergej. “We believe in Allah and it’s easier for us to stick together. I am not so sure that a Muslim prayer would be perceived as the norm in other units. But we are being supplied free board and space for prayer.”
The Crimea unit is not just for show. It fought in the Saur Grave battle near Donetsk and another one near Illovajsk.
Just as with other volunteer units these men get paid 4.2 thousand Hryvnia (about 350 USD per month) and dream of winning the biggest battle of their lives – the one for Crimea.
Central Asia in the Ukraine-Russia conflict
Experts believe that there are several hundred people from Central Asia currently fighting in Ukraine.
They are fighting on both sides. Ajdos Sadykov quotes the legendary Donbass unit commander Semen Semenchenko – who was wounded on August 19 during the battle near Illovajsk – who reported that he had met Russian separatists from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in Donetsk and Lugansk.
Their salaries are higher than those paid by the Ukrainian army – 500 USD per month when not fighting, and 1,000 USD per month when fighting.
Ukrainian fighters say that Muslims fighting alongside them are a powerful psychological weapon: Russian units who fought in Chechnya get demoralized when they hear a hearty “Allah Akbar” from the Crimea unit.
Guerrilla fighters to help the army
Meantime fighting in Donbass continues despite the September 5 peace agreement signed in Minsk.
The agreement gives eastern Ukraine a special status with significantly increased autonomy, lays the groundwork to free hostages, and offers a chance of amnesty for all separatists.
Dmitriy Tymchuk, the head of military and political think tank Sprotyv based in Kiev, says that guerrillas should be absorbed into the Ukrainian army, and used in particular for reconnaissance purposes in order to prepare territory for the Ukrainian army to enter.
Uznews.net
