He walked and talked and dressed like a Ukrainian soldier — and according to a contract with its armed forces, he is one. But Private Aiden “Johnny” Aslin is a British citizen with a Midlands accent and no formal orders from his home government to be fighting on the battlefields of the Donbas.

“It was my own decision to come here,” the 27-year-old told BuzzFeed News in this war-ravaged village, just north of the Sea of Azov. As he spoke, explosions from landmines being cleared in a nearby field reverberated. “I just want to support the Ukrainian state, the people, and help them fight for their sovereignty and independence,” he added.

Aslin, who has served with Ukraine’s marines since September 2018 and just extended his contract for a fourth year, is one of the thousands of foreign fighters who have flocked to Ukraine since the war began in 2014 to fight for one side or the other. Most of them have been Russians and citizens of other former Soviet republics, and most joined unofficial volunteer units. But hundreds have come from the European Union, roughly 40 have arrived from the US, and at least 12 from the UK, according to BuzzFeed News’ reporting and independent research done by experts who track such fighters.

The Western foreigners who have come to Ukraine are a motley crew. There are the idealists like Aslin who believe their own countries aren’t doing enough to help the Ukrainians secure their freedom and want to do what they can to help fight against Russian aggression against its former subject. There are the tourists who hop from conflict to conflict seeking adventure and war stories as much as money. And then there are the extremists who have seen opportunities to link up with far-right paramilitary groups fighting in Ukraine. Of course, some of the foreigners fit into more than one category.

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The Ukrainian military has made little effort on its own to recruit them, instead letting any interested foreigners simply come or leaving it to word of mouth. (Ukraine did, however, adopt legislation in 2015 allowing foreigners to officially serve in its regular armed forces, and it created a path to citizenship for those who complete a three-year contract.) But as Russia masses more than 100,000 troops around Ukraine in preparation for what President Joe Biden warned Thursday is likely to be a large-scale attack in February, the Ukrainian military has approved limited recruitment and vetting of prospective foreign fighters.

“We have the green light,” Mamuka Mamulashvili, a former Georgian military officer who now commands an English-speaking force of volunteer fighters known as the Georgia National Legion, told BuzzFeed News this week. “We are recruiting professionals”.

Read more: Buzzfeed News