Summary: With the stubborn nature of Russia’s expansionism into Ukraine, coupled with inevitable fatigue from more than 2 years of full-scale war, perhaps foreign personnel involvement to aid Kyiv might be both advisable and implementable.
Western Troops Into Ukraine?
On Monday, 26 February, during a summit of international leaders in support of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron declared that “France would do whatever was needed….to stop Russia winning the war in Ukraine”. He then added that, “there is no consensus today to send ground troops in an official manner, but in dynamic terms nothing should be ruled out (italics added for emphasis)”. Almost immediately, the UK, Spain, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany openly opposed the dispatching of their national contingents to Ukraine. In response to Macron’s statement, Moscow warned that Western/NATO troops in Ukraine would lead to conflict/war with NATO.
Notwithstanding Russian retaliatory threats, which are not impactful since the vast majority of Russian ground troops are tied up in Ukraine, implying that there is no spare capacity to open a new offensive front with NATO. At the same time, nuclear brinksmanship rings hollow since the U.S., Britain and France have atomic arsenals deterring Moscow, the fact remains that Kyiv needs all the help it can get in prosecuting this war. Indeed, Ukrainian frontline infantry units have recently reported that they are critically understaffed and hence, President Macron floating the proposal that European troops be sent to Ukraine to assist the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), could help shift the tactical balance of power in Kyiv’s favor.
Fortunately, there exists an avenue for inducting Western personnel into the Ukrainian war effort without them serving under their original national flags or NATO auspices, thereby depriving Putin of an excuse to declare hostilities against the West/NATO.
The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine as a Useful Mechanism
The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine (ILDU) is an AFU unit composed of foreigners which was established on 27 February 2022 to resist the Russian invasion. The ILDU enables the recruitment of foreign nationals into AFU battalions/sub-units under Kyiv’s command to prosecute the war against Russian occupation with salary, provided equipment and terms of service identical to Ukrainian servicemembers in the AFU.
With the above in mind, it might be feasible to consider sending European personnel who belong to certain valuable military occupation specialties and are willing to contribute to Ukrainian strategic war goals to serve fixed term contracts in Ukraine under the ostensible auspices of the ILDU. Such volunteers could serve under special contractual clauses/caveats where they will be in units comprised of their own countrymen, commanded by officers from their national militaries, and continue to draw pay from their home defense ministries. Liaison officers from the AFU will be provided so that such “autonomous” ILDU units can be supplied with tactical guidance to maximize synergy with AFU battle plans while avoiding friendly fire incidents with nearby Ukrainian units.
Examples of such European “autonomous” ILDU troops could include Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (UCAV) units operating flying drones for strike and reconnaissance missions, air defense crews manning surface to air missile batteries, air force ground crew familiar with the F-16 fighter jets that Ukraine will soon receive, and army logistics, maintenance and repair technicians trained to work with the latest Western equipment supplied to the AFU. Such foreign deployments on Ukrainian soil have three advantages, namely that i) such personnel will be using modern equipment from their home state, which they will be well versed with, negating the need to train an equivalent Ukrainian unit in their use, ii) that such units operate away from the frontlines, substantially reducing the probability of close combat with Russian forces, which helps avoid the ugly optics of personally killing Russian soldiers or worse, being captured by Moscow’s forces, and iii) that these contingents could free up more Ukrainian soldiers currently fulfilling support roles, for combat duty at the frontline.
Historical Precedent as Policy Justification
If the situation in the Ukrainian theatre ever deteriorates enough to pose a threat to pan-European stability, various EU/NATO national parliaments need to have serious debates about dispatching critical support troops to Ukraine. Fortunately, when such a contingency arises, there exists historical precedents of foreign forces serving other states under their own tactical command, as de jure members of the host state’s military. An excellent example of this is the First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) which played a critical role from 1941-42 resisting the Japanese invasion of China.
The AVG consisted of 3 squadrons of aircraft, was led by an American commander, Claire Chennault, who served as an official member of the ROCAF, while the AVG’s planes bore ROCAF markings, and AVG pilots were eligible for and won Chinese military medals/honors. Hence, the AVG had a measure of legitimacy and could not openly be seen as a U.S. military unit interfering on China’s side in the latter’s war against Japan. Similarly, the aforementioned European “autonomous” ILDU detachments would be operating in Ukrainian uniforms and be eligible for UAF medals/awards to lend credence to the veneer of being legitimate ILDU personnel, thus denying Moscow any legal justification for declaring war on any EU or NATO member.
In this manner, pro-Ukraine legislators could use the AVG’s example to improve the moral and popular receptivity to deploying European military contingents to aid Kyiv, during national legislative debates. After all, if American pilots and airmen were sent to stymie Japanese imperialist expansionism in China, so too can Europe deploy military specialists to aid the UAF in resisting and ultimately defeating Russia’s brutal revanchism.
The Utility of the “Boots on the Ground” Debate
While it could be speculated that Macron broaching the subject of “European boots” on Ukrainian soil was an attempt to stretch the horizons of military aid to Ukraine, making previously verboten topics like German Taurus air-launched cruise missile shipments to Ukraine seem reasonable by comparison, the fact remains that Kyiv needs immediate and unreserved military aid from the EU/NATO. In an era where the UN Security Council appears powerless to stop sovereignty violations by nuclear-armed aggressors, it is then up to multilateral coalitions of moral nations to aid state victims like Ukraine in any way possible.
About the Author
Nah Liang Tuang, PhD is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies (IDSS), a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. His research specialties include nuclear weapons politics, North Korean affairs and the role of nationalism in the defense of small states. The viewpoints and arguments presented in this article are the authors own and do not represent any stand of IDSS or RSIS.
