From Iquique, located 1,700 kilometres from Santiago, to the Ukraine-Poland border came the Chileans who is fighting alongside the international military legion. He assures that he bought his ticket by selling a truck, which allowed him to have the money.

It has been more than a month since Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, decided to invade Ukraine with all the military weapons at his disposal. The tension grows every day, which is why President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a public appeal to whoever wanted to join the Ukrainian army was welcome. This is what Luis Lagos did, the Iquique native who travelled more than 12 thousand kilometres from Chile.

In a conversation with the Star of Iquique, Lagos said that he has already helped rescue Ukrainian citizens from landslides due to Russian attacks, he has seen the death of people and that his motivations are personal.

“I live in Iquique and what I did was sell a truck,” said Lagos. Also that the Yavoriv base where he was a part of the “Foreign Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine” was attacked. “It was bombed and 30 people died, and one cannot explain the shock of seeing planes and the sound of the explosions.”

“No 3D or surround movie is the same as the sound you hear, especially if it’s close to where you are,” added the soldier.

“For me, it is a pride to be from Iquique and a privilege to be here in Ukraine. I didn’t come to a party or to Lollapalooza here in Ukraine. It is a completely serious situation, last night they attacked a field nearby where there were a hundred people dead.

Within what he has witnessed of the war, Lagos affirms that “here the Russians when they take a city shoot to kill and they do not care who it is, if it is a mother with a child, they shoot to kill”. It is not the war that is thought of by some Chileans or what is sometimes tended to think of as a hand-to-hand confrontation looking at the enemy. “What happens here is that the missiles are fired from Belarus or Russia thousands of kilometres away,” he explained.

Lagos explained that his only motivation is to help. “ I thought that like all people I have made mistakes, and I gained a lot of experience in various things and studies. And I never knew what I was going to apply them for. Now I know what it was useful for, and life is very wise. It gives opportunities,” he maintained.

Along the same lines, I add that: “many people are happy buying a Mercedes Benz, but my happiness is already fulfilled as a 46-year-old man, and I know when to know that I am a contribution. I am the only Chilean in the Legion and I am proud ”, He is sincere.

Regarding his family, he explained that his mother “works as a teacher and counsellor, she always knew how to guide me and my brother well in how one should channel being a useful person.” “My father, Hernán Lagos Cosgrove, who passed away, was a physical education teacher and helped many young people.”

The member of the Legion assured that “it is not a war because there was no previous incident, it is an invasion. The Ukrainians are fighting fiercely, the controls on all corners in the cities are exhaustive, even violent. If you are a foreigner, you can no longer travel in the cities.”

Regarding how he did his travel, he confirmed that “a day or two before, I presented myself at the Ukrainian embassy in Santiago and they gave me the contacts. I paid for my ticket. I know Europe well, I was in some countries, but it was easier for me”. The former policeman lived in Germany and that stay helped him to acclimatize to the cold in Ukraine, far from what is normally experienced in Iquique in autumn, the current season that averages 20 degrees.

“I invite those who feel called, with a moral duty to do so, everyone can collaborate in helping those who need it”, emphasizing those who want to join Zelenski’s troops to fight against Russia.