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| UKRAINE-CRISIS/WAR CRIMES |
Thousands of volunteers from different countries have gone to Ukraine to help fight the attack of Russian forces. Many of them are ex-military and have various motives to come to the aid of Ukraine. As VOA's Celia Mendoza reports from Poland, some of these volunteers are already returning to their countries.
Jetmir Hyseni is a 22-year-old Albanian who voluntarily joined the war in Ukraine. He experienced the rocket attack of the Russian forces on the military base in Yavoriv, in the western part of Ukraine. Jetmir made some of his films available to VOA.
"The Russian army attacked us with over 30 missiles, we had 35 dead and 134 wounded," he says.
Mr. Hyseni, who survived the attack with only minor injuries, had arrived in Ukraine to train two days before the attack.
"We lost all contact, we did not know where to go. Everyone was running. We went into the bunker to defend ourselves. It was a big disaster," he said.
Mr. Hyseni left the base and crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland, where he had to decide on his future.
"I will go home now. Two days after I arrived we were hit by 30 bombs. I am not ready for this," said Mr. Hyseni.
Former Colombian military man Martin Rios, 27, says he volunteered to join the Ukrainian army to help protect the people of Ukraine.
"Like all ex-servicemen I wanted to have the privilege of belonging to a cause," he says.
Mr. Rios also survived the attack on the military base in Yavoriv. He says among the large group of men and women from around the world were 10 other Spanish-speakers.
"Then he realizes the importance of military training and combat experience. Perez thankfully managed to escape. I was among the last to escape and felt the impact of the rocket that threw me into a pool of water. Then I lost consciousness," said Mr. Rios.
Another volunteer, Cesar Perez, also filmed during the attack which according to Mr. Rios lasted for about half an hour.
"It's very clear that this is not the first time I've been in a conflict, but on such a scale? It's something else. It makes you think about it again," Rios said.
An ex-US military is among those volunteers. He arrived in the Ukrainian capital to help and shared his experience in Spanish-language with VOA. For security reasons, he does not prefer his face to appear.
"If you do not have military experience, you should not come here because it is dangerous and you can endanger other people here," he said.