A fisherman from Maine. A landscaper from Australia. A schoolteacher from Paris. These are a few of the motley characters Josh Hammer embedded with for his latest story for GQ, "Ukraine’s Last-Chance Brigade,” which examines Ukraine’s huge influx of foreign fighters through a look at one especially eclectic unit. There’s a Coen Brothers quality to this crew—many of them have never seen combat before, and many remain far from this war’s front lines. Yet there’s also a palpable sense of danger: Rumors circulate about a band of international volunteers who’ve been killed, while the Russian Ministry of Defense has declared that it regards all foreign fighters as mercenaries, not combatants; thus they wouldn't be afforded the protections of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the torture and execution of prisoners of war. And, as three of our protagonists make their way to the war’s eastern front, carrying out rescue missions for a humanitarian aid organization, the meaning of their service takes on a new light. This perhaps isn’t how they imagined their war would go. But it’s a reality they embrace with an inspiring energy—and an unflagging commitment to the fight.
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