The number of Ukrainians willing to join the Ukrainian Legion in Poland has been "too small," Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz told Wirtualna Polska on Oct. 2.
The legion was unveiled in July as a volunteer military unit made up of Ukrainian men living in Poland and trained by the Polish Armed Forces.
"We are not responsible for recruitment, but the number of people who were supposed to come forward from the Ukrainian side is too small," the Polish minister said.
"Declarations at the beginning were very high, that even one brigade could be formed... several thousand people. However, this did not happen."
The legion was announced as part of the security agreement signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on July 8.
Recruitment for the Ukrainian Legion was planned to be conducted by Ukrainian consular offices. The volunteers were expected to be conscripted under Ukraine's legislation and trained in Poland by the country's military.
"Several thousand" people registered to participate in the legion as of July 11, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said previously.
According to Kosiniak-Kamysz, Poland has trained about 20,000 Ukrainian military personnel who are now fighting at the frontline in Ukraine.
Dinara Khalilova
(Updated: )
