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What draws someone to fight for a country that's not their own, unsanctioned by their government...sometimes, never having held a gun before?
It's something veteran British journalist and author Colin Freeman wanted to know, having met a number of foreign legion soldiers who were drawn to the fight in Ukraine.
Some 20,000 heeded a call from Ukraine's President Volodymr Zelensky in February 2022 to help defend his country - and Europe - from what he dubbed "Russian war criminals".
This foreign legion included a rag-tag mix of former soldiers, idealists, thrill seekers and even former criminals... They came from all around the world, including New Zealand.
Four Kiwis have not made it back:
Fighters Dominic Abelen, Kane Te Tai and Shan-Le Kearns, as well as aid worker Andrew Bagshaw have been killed in the conflict.
So what made them want to risk their lives to go to Ukraine?
What were their experiences once there?
Colin has detailed the accounts of mainly British fighters in his new book 'The Mad and the Brave: The Untold Story of Ukraine's Foreign Legion'.
