TEHRAN- A report by The Insider has exposed the deadly crisis facing volunteers who joined the ranks of the Ukrainian army fighting Russian forces.

When Kyiv announced the formation of an international legion on February 27, thousand are said to have lined up at Ukrainian embassies worldwide to add their names to the list.

In the U.S., some Americans already had experience in war zones, having previously fought in Washington's invasion or occupation of countries like Syria, Iraq, or Afghanistan, while others had none whatsoever.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in the first few weeks alone (after the war erupted on February 20 when Moscow announced what it described as a "special military operation"), some 20,000 volunteers from dozens of nations answered the call to arms and registered their names as volunteers.

In March a top defense official at Ukraine's Washington DC embassy revealed that about 3,000 of them were U.S. citizens. 

Since then, some reports have emerged about the volunteer corps of foreign citizens in the military service of Ukraine abandoning the country because of a lack of equipment, a poor organization as well as reckless or drunk commanders.

One was an investigation by The Kyiv Independent which revealed alleged misconduct of the leadership of the International Legion, including "light weapons misappropriation and physical threats toward foreign soldiers and volunteers while the leadership of the intelligence-run wing of the International Legion is allegedly implicated in various violations."

These violations include abuse, theft, sending soldiers unprepared on reckless missions, and the foreign legion's complaints of military operations as The Insider says being conducted "like in the old days."

The Kyiv Independent reported on how one of the foreign legion's commanders is accused of abusing power by ordering soldiers to loot shops, threatening soldiers with a gun, and sexually harassing the legion’s female medics.

The International Legion, soldiers say, consists of two wings. Ukraine’s Ground Forces oversee one. The Defense Ministry’s Directorate for Intelligence, known under its Ukrainian acronym GUR, coordinates the other. 

The investigation published by The Kyiv Independent in August found that some commanders in the foreign legions overseen by Ukrainian Intelligence were sending men on "suicide missions".

The Insider has reported on the reasons behind the departure of the volunteer corps from the warzone. 

According to the news outlet, one American soldier Bryan Young, a 51-year-old army veteran from California faced a scary new reality in Ukraine.

He had already served as a U.S. infantryman between November 1990 and April 2003, before being forced to retire because of an injury.

Young was a part of the 517th battalion of the Ivan Bohun Brigade, which was overseen by the GUR Legion.

Kacper Rekawek, a research fellow for the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, also told Insider "The GUR part of the legion is led by Ukrainian officers and usually includes veterans or people who have experience on the battlefield." 

Rekawek added that soldiers in this section are often highly skilled and deployed in smaller groups that are then deployed to the frontlines. 

Despite that, the legion has been reported to be anything but professional. In June, Young texted his partner: "It has been a mess where I am, most of the foreign volunteers left. There are only a few of us left."

He died four months after the war started following an exchange of fire with Russian troops. During a brief pause in the firing, Young, and two other soldiers — Emile-Antoine Roy Sirous from Canada and Edvard Selander Patrignani from Sweden — rushed to his side to evacuate him before they too were killed.

Another American soldier in the same unit told Insider that their mission was a disaster from the start, adding that the group had narrowly escaped death multiple times in the days before.  

"When we were told to go out again, in my mind I knew someone was going to die," he said.

But Young's partner says his death was preventable. 

Messages that were sent to her from soldiers in Young's unit - seen by Insider - reveal that many thought their commander, Ruslan Miroshnichenko, was careless, and often drunk. 

"No one trusts Ruslan [Miroshnichenko], he is a lying piece of sh#t," one soldier told his partner in a text message seen by Insider. "Ruslan has pissed off everyone in the company."

They also said that Miroshnichenko was not only a heavy drinker of alcohol but also often encouraged others to drink as well before heading out on military missions. At one point, the battalion Young was serving with destroyed a local bar, and police had to get involved. 

When Miroshnichenko called Young's partner to discuss funeral arrangements on the phone, the commander sounded drunk, she said.

According to Insider, Miroshnichenko has since been fired from his post as the battalion's commander, but his LinkedIn profile shows he's still serving for the legion, in a different department. 

Miroshnichenko is reported to be a Polish ex-criminal named Sasha Kuchynsky, according to The Kyiv Independent, which says he also forced soldiers in his troops to help him loot shops.

"A bunch of wannabes, playing with people's lives," one soldier, who has since left Ukraine, said of the legion's leadership.

According to another American legionnaire, Kuchynsky harassed foreign female medics in their unit, using sexually suggestive language with them. According to an American volunteer, the legion’s medics voiced their complaints, but their complaints fell on deaf ears. The foreign medic he knew that was harassed by Kuchynsky is no longer with the Legion and has since left Ukraine, the American legionnaire said. 

According to the Kyiv Independent’s sources inside the legion, Kuchynsky is not the man’s real name. He is allegedly Piotr Kapuscinski, a former member of a criminal organization from Poland, who fled to Ukraine after several run-ins with the law.

In Poland, Kapuscinski is wanted for fraud and faces up to eight years in prison. According to Polish Gazeta Wyborcza, he has previously served time behind bars.

In a video obtained by the Kyiv Independent, some foreigners can be heard questioning the legality of their commander's orders. 

Young's partner is not the only person who has raised questions over the way foreign fighters have been treated in Ukraine, and the dangers they were put in, even while knowing the risks.

According to The Military Times, Young wasn't the last American to die fighting in Ukraine. On November 8, Trent Davis, a 21-year-old US Army veteran from Kansas, was killed on his first mission with the legion, near the southern city of Kherson. 

Davis was at least the tenth American to die fighting in the conflict, the outlet reported.

Meanwhile, the Insider also spoke to two Germans who had gone to Ukraine to volunteer to fight and ended up with a different outfit. 

They described arriving at barracks that were barren and disorganized and an overall sense of chaos.

"Katastrophe," Tobias, one of the men, told Insider. "There's no organization, no organized training. Everyone just wants to kill the Russians." Neither had any military experience, unlike people like Young.

One foreign volunteer told Insider "It is impossible [to stay safe]. Our commander will get us killed here," the soldier added.

The legality of Western countries allowing their citizens to fight in a warzone has come under scrutiny.

The State Department's website says U.S. citizens are not barred from serving in another country's military. 

However, if U.S. citizens had traveled to fight Daesh terrorists in Iraq or the Israeli occupation in Palestine there is no question that they would be facing a lengthy prison sentence back home.

In the U.S., the UK, and elsewhere, those who returned after fighting Daesh are now in jail.