Manuel (28) from Delfzijl has quit his job as a fiber optic fitter. On Sunday he will leave for Poland, after which he voluntarily joins the foreigners’ battalion in Ukraine.
Only once before did 28-year-old Manuel from Delfzijl experience the enthusiasm he feels since he decided to leave for the front in Ukraine, which he describes as follows: ‘As if a horse starts to gallop inside me and won’t stop. is.’
It was when he was working as a security guard at a chemical site in the Eemshaven and his supervisor asked him to become an industrial rescue worker. Intervening in emergencies, saving lives. ‘Then I thought: yes, I can really be useful with this.’ But that was disappointing, concluded the Groninger during yet another endless night in the Nuon power station. ‘Nothing ever happens, because Dutch legislation and safety measures have been boarded up.’
Out of boredom, he took his laptop to his services. In a shooter game online he found the buzz and cooperation that his work in the plant was lacking. ‘I just think it’s beautiful to complete a mission together,’ he says, his feet clad in thick white socks and dark blue sauna slippers.
for real
Fraternization, meaning, unity: this is what Manuel hopes to find when he leaves for Poland on Sunday, only to join the foreign legion in Ukraine that was set up a week ago by the government in Kyiv. His last name is known to the editors, for security reasons he does not want it in the newspaper. About 16,000 foreign volunteers have already signed up for the battalion, President Volodimir Zelensky claims. The embassy in The Hague previously spoke of one hundred to two hundred Dutch volunteers, but wants to de Volkskrant nothing to say about numbers.
Jokes abound online about gamers getting away from their computers in an attempt to save the world – and Manuel gets that. “But I know full well that there is a difference between a game and the real thing,” he says. As a boy he already dreamed about a life as a soldier, but after his MBO training in Security & Craftsmanship and training as an infantryman, he never joined the Ministry of Defense.
His brand new passport has been urgently applied for and is shiny atop his computer box, which fills the living room with soothing music. Prepare the body and mind for loud noises and shocks, suggested one participant of the online forum with Ukraine volunteers, of which Manuel has accidentally become ‘a little bit the father’. But Manuel isn’t scared. “You don’t know how to react to a bomb until you experience it.” He leaves with three other men he knows from the forum.
‘Have you arranged your will yet?’, another forum participant asked at the start of the week. †Damn‘ wrote Manuel. ‘Will is just 500 euros minimum.’ It’s not worth it to him. Moreover, he has already invested about 800 euros. Confirmation emails and invoices from web shops with military equipment are pouring in, because Ukraine asks volunteers to bring protective equipment. The embassy does promise volunteers medical care and a weekly allowance of about 400 euros, plus armor.
Decent backpack
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, Manuel lay awake for a few nights, brooding over what he could contribute. When he heard over the weekend that volunteers are being sought, he immediately applied and quit his job as a fiber optic fitter. If he’d had “a girlfriend, dog, or goldfish,” his living room probably wouldn’t be full of military gear right now, he admits. But he hardly has anyone close to him. “I have quite an emotional backpack. And now a physical one too,” says Manuel, pointing to his 60-litre backpack. “But I’ll get over that.”
More difficult to deal with are the lingering illness and death of his single, chronically ill mother, whom he nursed for years until he found her stretched out on the floor five years ago. “I resuscitated her myself. After that it was, to put it bluntly, a choice between a greenhouse plant or unplugging it.’ He swallows and looks at the ceiling. “Since she passed away, I’ve basically been on my own.”
The reaction of the international community to the Ukrainian recruitment campaign has been remarkably mild. Only Senegal has condemned the appeal: recruiting volunteers for the armed struggle is illegal there. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss even “supports” the travelers, she told the BBC on Sunday.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws the attention of travelers to the negative travel advice. “If people do go, it’s their own responsibility and we probably won’t be able to help them if they get into trouble,” said a spokesperson.
Contribute something directly
Manuel thinks as little as possible about those risks – killing, dying, sustaining trauma. ‘Subconsciously it’s in my head, but if you think about it all the time, you’ll go crazy. I do know that I am on the right side of history with this’, Manuel explains.
Taking in refugees, collecting clothes: he understands that others see it as a better option than traveling to the front, but for him that is not enough. He wants to contribute immediately. ‘Compass and map reading have remained at a good level since my education thanks to gaming. Other than that, I just do what they tell me.’
The Ukrainian embassy has already arranged a Dutch contact person in Poland, who will take Manuel and his fellow travelers from the airport in Kraków to the border. Once they have crossed, they have to send a message to a Ukrainian colonel, on the A4 page with directions from the Ukrainian embassy. But before that, Manuel has to roll some cigarettes. Handy, as a medium of exchange in Ukraine.