8:03 am: “I could not sit on the sofa seeing this”

After confronting the jihadists, this time it will be the Russian army: in Kyiv, a young French fighter with experience in Syria is preparing to return to the front to “help the Ukrainians maintain their independence.”

The 28-year-old Frenchman said without further details that his name was Pierre and came from Normandy (northwest). “Most useful”: he hopes to be able to use the skills he has acquired in Syria in recent years against the Russians, such as “at the forefront”, shooting with 12.7 (machine guns) and 14.5. MM, Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers … “

On February 24, Pierre, a former house painter apprentice who regularly worked on construction sites, was at home when Russia invaded Ukraine. He was “disgusted” when he saw these pictures. “In the afternoon, I said to myself: This is good, I’m out. I could not sit on the couch watching this. ⁇

After ten days of trains and cars, he was in Ukraine, where President Volodymyr Selensky called on foreign volunteers to join the resistance against the Russian occupation. According to the Ukrainian government, about 20,000 people have already arrived, which is impossible to verify from an independent source.