Saulo slips a small Brazilian flag into his black backpack, with a trellis, a groundsheet, a knife in its holster and a pair of rangers, “just the essentials” to go fight in Ukraine.
“I identify with this cause,” said the 35-year-old Brazilian, who left his post as a military policeman in Sao Paulo to join the conflict more than 11,000 km from his home.
“The Ukrainian people are suffering because of this unjust aggression and I want to help avoid a third world war”, adds this man with close-cropped hair and muscular arms, a skull tattooed on his biceps.
Born in the state of Parana (south), Saulo, who does not wish to reveal his surname, says he was sensitized by images of bombings of hospitals and residential areas in Ukraine.
“I know there is a risk of not coming back alive, everyone who goes there knows it,” admits this policeman used to “combat in urban areas” in Sao Paulo.
His only fear? “Let it degenerate into nuclear war”.
Saulo left Sao Paulo on Wednesday for Poland with a one-way plane ticket bought with his savings.
“I am in contact with people (Brazilians who are already in Ukraine) who will help me join the troops” at the border, he explains, after saying goodbye to his two children and his partner.
– “Opportunity” –
Several hundred Brazilians, mostly men, say they are ready to fight in Ukraine.
In early March, at least 20,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries registered on the “fightforua.org” website to join the International Legion in Defense of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.
This organization, contacted by AFP by telephone, ensures that anyone with military or combat experience with firearms can be enrolled.
In Brazil, several groups have been created on Facebook: one of them, entitled “Volunteers to fight in Ukraine”, has 1,800 members.
In these virtual circles, the members exchange practical information on the logistical challenges of such a trip, but remain wary, fearing being watched by “Russian spies infiltrated into the groups”, certain Internet users told AFP.
Guilherme, 29, who prefers to use a pseudonym for security reasons, plans to take the plunge to make a fresh start.
“Fighting in Ukraine is an opportunity to stay in Europe afterwards. Here, in Brazil, everything is complicated”, explains this former soldier and security guard, currently unemployed.
“We cannot tell ourselves that this war does not concern us”, adds this Brazilian who passed through the French Foreign Legion in 2017.
But before buying his plane ticket, Guilherme wants to make sure that his nationality will not be an obstacle to being enrolled.
Rumors point to a rejection of Brazilian volunteers because of the “neutrality” displayed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who even said he was “in solidarity” with Vladimir Putin during an official visit to Moscow one day. week before the start of the conflict.
The Ukrainian International Legion, however, denied to AFP any restriction on Brazilian volunteers.
– “Welcomed with open arms” –
Leandro Galvao, a 49-year-old ex-Brazilian soldier who lives in Estonia, has been fighting for several days alongside the Ukrainian army in the vicinity of kyiv.
“I am here to defend democracy, I now feel like a member of this Nation and I will fight to the end,” says this father of two teenagers, reached by telephone by AFP.
He says he sleeps “only three hours a day” and is notably assigned to civilian evacuation missions.
Foreigners “are welcomed with open arms”, says this man from Sao Paulo, who had already fought with the Foreign Legion in Afghanistan.
Jorge Rybka, Ukrainian consul in Sao Paulo, assures that his country “provides no help” to volunteers wishing to join conflict zones.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs “strongly advises against” for its part to go to Ukraine.