Australians wanting to fight against Russian forces in Ukraine are being warned against entering into “suicide missions” as the conflict becomes “more and more difficult”.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Defence Minister Peter Dutton have warned those seeking to fly to Ukraine to consider whether they want to find themselves on the wrong end of some “very, very violent attacks”.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for foreign fighters to join the resistance and said the Ukrainian armed forces were in the process of setting up a foreign legion unit for international volunteers.
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Truss voiced her support for citizens to go to Ukraine and join the international force.
But questions about the legal status of any Australian who does volunteer to fight in Ukraine are being raised. Some have postured that parts of Ukraine should become “declared areas”, which would make it an offence for an Australian to enter other than for a legitimate purpose.
When asked about it again on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said the legal position of those who seek to travel to Ukraine to fight “remains very unclear”.
“Particularly as the formation of what would be informal militias and the extent to which they are actually part of any sovereign and defined force is Ukraine is very unclear,” Mr Morrison said.
“I’d also argue that anyone seeking to do that would find themselves on the wrong end of some very, very violent attacks.
“Those disorganised civilian militias would effectively be putting people in the most extreme of situations, so we will not encourage anybody to go there and we would advise against it because largely you would be joining something, the status of which is completely unclear, and how it would be supported and how it would sit in any command structure with Ukraine’s forces I think is totally unknown.
“Others have described those sorts of things as suicide missions, and that’s not an unreasonable assessment.”
Earlier, a leading Ukrainian community leader in Australia didn’t describe such actions as a “suicide mission” but warned Australians without any military training from becoming a liability for the Ukrainian defensive.
Instead, he said those wanting to help Ukraine should consider donating money to go towards humanitarian aid, as the number of refugees fleeing the nation approaches one million.
Stefan Romaniw, vice-president of the Ukrainian World Congress, and co-chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, said Australians who wanted to volunteer to fight needed to do their own risk assessment but ultimately consider whether they would be a “liability”.
“Our position is clear – it’s a decision that people have to make. But our one bit of advice, if you have no military training, if you arxjmtzywe wanting to fight because of emotions, you might be a liability rather than an asset,” Mr Romaniw told NCA NewsWire.
“I know for our American and Canada colleagues, where people have had a lot of military training … that’s the sort of person who would be of benefit.
“But if you’re talking about going and helping, I think it’s important what we do now is factor in what’s important.
“Otherwise we’ll end up with good-hearted people with no military experience wanting to fight. It’s a liability.
“If you have an inkling that you want to go and fight, you need to risk assess … We can’t tell people to go or not go.”
It’s reported at least 20 Australians have registered their interest with the Ukrainian Embassy in Australia to fight in the wake of Mr Zelensky’s call for foreign fighters to join the resistance.
Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the waters were murky about how Australians could fight in Ukraine.
“Australian law, existing Australian law, prohibits Australian citizens and residents and holders of Australian visas from engaging in hostile activities unless serving in the armed forces of a foreign country,” Senator Payne said on Monday.
“So, Australians who travel in Ukraine with a non-government armed group on either side of the conflict, or recruit someone else to do so, may be committing a criminal offence.”
Mr Dutton said he could understand the “passion” people had, but travelling to Ukraine should be avoided.
“People from around the world are horrified by the slaughter of men, women and children in Ukraine by Russian soldiers now. That will increase,” Mr Dutton said.
“As the Russian forces move closer to the capital, they will become more intense and this is not an easy situation to state the obvious, but it’s going to become more and more difficult.
“The reality is, as the Prime Minister points out, many people will die unless President Putin changes the course of action he is on at the moment.”
Under the latest travel advice, Australians have been told not to travel to Ukraine, with a warning now in place for Australians to leave Russia.
Mr Romaniw will meet with Mr Morrison on Tuesday to discuss how else Australia can help Ukraine and Ukrainians.
“We believe the Russian ambassador should be expelled,” he said.
Mr Romaniw said Australians wanting to help should donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
