Nordic returnees from war-torn Ukraine: motivations, experiences, and support needs

The Russian-Ukrainian war has attracted a vast number of voluntary fighters and medical personnel from across the world. There are many media reports and policy briefs on these volunteers, but almost no academic research.

Based on face-to-face interviews and online communication, this project examines Nordic volunteers who are, or have been, in Ukraine to help the Ukrainian forces.

Interviews will be conducted with individuals from Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, and follow-up interviews will be made with some of them to shed light on the personal challenges they go through and the risks they pose to society.

This project will thus provide much needed information on an understudied population with a focus on their background, ideological orientations, motivations for going to war, and potential for violent extremism.

Moreover, the project will provide data on how the war is experienced by the volunteers and how it influences their lives.

The results of the study will contribute to the development of a theoretical framework for understanding how individuals bring themselves to risk their lives in a foreign war and how they are best handled by the authorities in their home countries.

This information is vital for developing culturally attuned services and treatments to address issues of trauma and radicalization in a population that presently receives none of the aid offered to homecoming personnel in the national armies.