Foreign Fighters in the 2022 Russia-Ukraine War

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, reanimated recruitment activities and individual motivations for foreign volunteers to travel to the war zone. Although by far the smallest number of volunteers traveling to Ukraine, foreign violence-oriented extremists traveling to Ukraine represent clear security risks. They will likely obtain combat experience in the conflict zone and potentially have a greater impact on the violence-oriented extremist milieus in their home countries upon their return. Their ability to plan and successfully carry out attacks in accordance with their ideology increases massively. Thus, it should be a priority to disrupt the travel of extremists to the conflict zone.

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