While French military prowess has ebbed and flowed across the ages, one of its most important and most recognizable features has long been the Foreign Legion - Legion Etrangere - a service wing that allows foreign nationals to serve in the French armed forces. Anyone can participate, with very few questions asked - take the American serviceman recently convicted for ditching his military post to serve in the Legion.
Russia's military involvement in Eastern Ukraine currently consists of soldiers and mercenaries from far-flung federal republics such as Chechnya, as well as Ukrainian citizens who are ethnic Russians and wish to support Moscow's efforts to create pro-Russian political entities in the Donbas region. If Ukraine is to serve as a model of Russia's new mode of hybrid warfare, combining special forces and regular military personnel with "rebel" or "militia" formations in areas Moscow deems militarily important, it should be logical to assume that numerous volunteers could be recruited for other such missions. Which brings Russia to the next logical step in its emerging military strategy: allowing foreigners to serve in the Russian armed forces. The main criterium for such service is knowledge of the Russian language.
Back in 2010, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on its website that "according to the Federal Law On Military Duty and Military Service, foreign citizens aged 18 to 30 years old, who are lawfully residing in the territory of the Russian Federation and are Russian-speaking, may enter into the initial contract for military service in the military posts to be filled by soldiers, sailors, sergeants and petty officers in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as other troops, military formations and bodies, for a period of 5 years." There were several reasons given for allowing foreigners to serve. According to an analysis published in the Russian daily Komsomolskaya Pravda, Russia's deep demographic deficit had caused "an acute shortage of able-bodied recruits. More than a third of them cannot serve because of various illnesses."
The analysis also noted draft dodgers numbering around 200,000, with nearly 15,000 holed up abroad under various pretexts. Further, the low level of education of many recruits is giving Russian commanders headaches, "considering the increasing complexity of military equipment in the Russian military."
At that time, the proposal generated some interesting comments from Russian civilians and former military members. Retired Vice Adm. Yuri Boyarkin, a former deputy commander of the Northern Fleet, confirmed that the Russian military needs foreign fighters: Boyarkin, noting that the navy in particular needed specialists, said that Tajiks, Uzbeks, Belorussians and Ukrainians served together in Soviet times, and that the decision to open up service to foreigners would allow Russia to benefit from their return.
Others disagreed, saying that Russia has enough able-bodied men, and that such foreigners must at least undergo thorough background checks. One military pensioner remarked: "How many armies throughout the ages were destroyed by mercenaries? During the Russian-Polish war in 1633, Russia suffered a lot from mercenaries. As soon as it got really cold, their spirits fell and they gave us up to the Poles. In our harsh climate, only the true Russian spirit grows stronger."
The analysis concluded that "a lot of young men from near and far abroad, who know the Russian language and had time to get a higher education, are a welcome boon for the General Staff ... According to our data, volunteers are already available. So it is very possible that in the near future, the Russian military will have its own foreign legion."
The future has arrived: On Jan. 2, President Vladimir Putin signed a law allowing foreigners to serve in the Russian military as contract personnel. Said Putin: "In accordance with universally recognized principles and norms of international law, international treaties undersigned by the Russian Federation, and the legislation of the Russian Federation, all military personnel who are foreign nationals can carry out military tasks under martial law, as well as in situations of armed conflict."
Russia has many sympathizers around the world, and it is not unreasonable to believe that we will soon observe military formations made up of foreigners participating in Russia's wars.
(AP photo)