The man insists he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian military to obtain the country’s citizenship
RT’s Roman Kosarev spoke to Vjekoslav Prebek, a Croatian national who fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian military. Prebek says he was a serviceman in a Ukrainian marine brigade that was holed up in the city of Mariupol. He claims to have been taken prisoner during an attempt to flee the besieged city alongside a handful of other fighters.
“We were leaving Mariupol and we were walking on foot for 260 kilometers hiding, walking only during night, avoiding all contact possible,” he said. The plan flopped when the group ran into an artillery unit and surrendered to it.
Prebek’s unit has had multiple foreigners in its ranks, including three British nationals. Several other foreigners went AWOL from the brigade shortly after the ongoing conflict broke out late in February.
The fighter says he joined the ranks of the Ukrainian military back in 2020, seeking to get the country’s citizenship after serving a three-year contract. Back then, it seemed like a good idea, as the frontline in the Donbass was “stationary,” he said, adding that he “almost” didn’t fire a shot at the time.
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“My reason for wanting to achieve the Ukrainian citizenship is because I met a woman here that I got in love. She had sick mother and she did not want to leave Ukraine,” Prebek said, without explaining how exactly he ended up in Ukraine in the first place.
Previously, Prebek served in Croatia’s army for five years. The man insisted he did not have any real battle experience and was merely an “infantryman” in his home country’s army. “I was an infantryman in the Croatian armed forces for five years, that’s all,” he claimed. “I haven’t been involved into any conflicts before.”