Russia-Ukraine war: Meet the Afghan refugees fighting Moscow’s latest invasion

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Mateen learned a lot of skills in the 10 years she spent against the Taliban as part of the Afghan National Army, but she never imagined she had to use the same experience to be used in foreign countries.

He also never imagined that one day he would find himself against the invasion by Russia, as well as people from his own family in his homeland in the 80s even before he was born. But that’s where he found himself, in Ukraine, deflected Russian troops while waiting for news about his very delayed settlement cases.

Like millions of other Afghanists, the fall of the Western supported government in Kabul has led the 34 year -old player on a confusing and difficult journey that is full of anticipation and unanswered questions.

Now he is part of the small cadre of Afghanistan who has been recruited to take part in the Ukraine War, a conflict that has housed the situation in Afghanistan, which is still suffering by instability and economic collapse.

At present there are around 20,000 foreign fighters in the country, most of whom come from Britain, US, Georgia and Belarus.

Unlike them, Mateen is already in Ukraine, where he has been resilient as part of the vulnerable evacuation of Afghanistan who did an overdrive after the takeover of the Taliban on August 15, 2021.

When Russia launched an invasion on February 24, Mateen was in Ukraine for six months. He hopes to be sent to the US or England.

As someone who since 2012 has fought in the provinces of Afghanistan Herat, Balkh, Maidan Wardak and Ghazni, he has many interactions with Italian, German, British and US forces. This makes it the main target for the Taliban, but like many other Afghan people evacuated, Mateen has been made to sit and wait in a foreign country.

I keep asking them about the status of my case and they keep saying to wait, there is nothing else,” Mateen told Middle East Eye by telephone from Kyiv. He said the whole residential process was jammed in Ukraine.

Everything is closed here. The United Nations Immigration Office and Embassy do not respond to email, and if they do it, it’s always the same: ‘Wait until further notification, our office will contact you’.

The beginning of the invasion of course playing a role in the postponement, but Ukraine is not the only country where Afghan people say they have been forced to bear waiting without stopping. In February, thousands of Afghan residents in Abu Dhabi protested not to wait indefinitely at a facility they called prison”, without news when they would achieve their final destination.

In March, efforts to recruit accelerated volunteer fighters and Mateen decided it was better to return to the battlefield against enemies who were decades than just sitting and waiting.

Mateen, who will only give his first name, said he was recruited by other Afghanistan who had been in Ukraine since 2003. He said another friend who spoke of the language, helped him through the registration process.

He said because hundreds of people lined up in the registration centers established in various communities throughout the capital, the process was rather simple: “They check your documents and if you do not have weapons, they give it to you before introducing you to you to you Unit Commander. Those who have their own weapons must register them. “

Mateen would not reveal if he was paid to fight, but he said the leader of his unit was a member of the Ukraine Armed Forces. Afghanistan said he was forced to fight Russia from the start.

I understand what Ukraine is experiencing at this time,” he said. “They were trapped in the midst of conflicts between countries that were far greater than them, just like Afghanistan.”