The Internet television’s “My – Poltava” YouTube channel published an episode of the program “Rozmova + (Conversation +)” with a fighter of the French Foreign Legion with the call sign “Bora” who is fighting for Ukraine. He told us why he decided to defend our Motherland, what impressed him about Ukraine, and how he experienced the loss of a Ukrainian friend.
To ensure the translation of the exclusive interview of the French legionnaire, the journalists of “My – Poltava” invited Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of General Linguistics and Foreign Languages of the National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic” Svitlana Halaur.
You can watch the interview at the link.
“I originally arrived at the end of 2022 to participate in the war. I had a Ukrainian friend who invited me here to fight for Ukraine. He is a former legionnaire who worked with me. Unfortunately, he died in January before I arrived. This saddened me greatly, and by then I had already joined our American friend in the legion. From Malmö, I took a train to Paris, then three days by bus to Kyiv, and from there straight to the war zone,” – said the soldier.
According to the legionnaire, he always wanted to be in the army. To some extent, this was influenced by his grandfather’s upbringing. Before joining the army, he was trained as a car mechanic as well as doing a lot of sports: rugby, mixed martial arts, and English boxing. He also did a lot of sports in the army.
“In March 2023, I came to Ukraine for the second time. The first time was in December 2022. Then I went back because I had problems with my passport. I really liked the culture, the beautiful landscapes, and especially the people who, despite the war, remain smiling and friendly.
Ukraine is a country of great culture? which the russians attacked. They are killing many people, and for me this is terrorism. I know many volunteers who come and help Ukraine, and I am one of them.
Despite being injured and being in pain, I can’t wait to get back and fight. I was wounded when I was getting out of the car and a missile hit. When all this happened, I did not understand anything, I was thrown back and I fell. I was with my group. As soon as it happened, they provided me with first aid, then evacuated me and took good care of me in a Ukrainian hospital.
I want to stay in Ukraine and be here. It is because of my friend who died and to whom I made a promise. I don’t plan to return to France,” – said the warrior.
The hero of the interview shared his vision of Ukraine’s future: “In a few years, I see a country that is being reconstructed and rebuilt after the war, and that it all ends as soon as possible.”
It should be noted that the Faculty of Philology, Psychology and Pedagogy trains French language teachers and offers open language courses for all those who want to learn foreign languages, in particular French.
It should be recalled that the first graduation of veterans’ assistants in the Poltava Region took place at the Polytechnic.
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National University “Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic”
