Hundreds of volunteers from across the world sign up to defend outmanned Ukraine from huge Russian onslaught

Hundreds of volunteers from all around the world are signing up to defend Ukraine from a devastating Russian invasion.

Responding to the plea issued by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, these volunteers aim to help the Ukrainian forces defend Kyiv and stop the advance of Russian forces invading the country.

Lithuanian volunteers have joined the fight on the side of Ukraine.

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— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 1, 2022

Most of the volunteers heading to Ukraine hail from other post-Soviet states, but dozens of others are enlisting from other parts of Europe and the world.

Hundreds of Swedes have signed up to head to Ukraine, while a group of volunteers in the United Kingdom have also written to Ukraine’s embassy in London hoping to join the fight against the Russian invasion, The Times reported. Current UK travel advice suggests that the government could prosecute those who return home for terrorism.

Dozens of men from traditionally pacifist Japan have also called the Ukrainian embassy in Tokyo to enlist as volunteers, according to a Reuters report.

Ukrainian President Zelensky appealed to foreign citizens to come to Ukraine and fight alongside his country's armed forces against Russian invaders.

Volunteers are being told to apply via the Ukrainian embassies in their respective countries.

"Anyone who wants to join the defence of Ukraine, Europe and the world can come and fight side by side with the Ukrainians against the Russian war criminals," he said in a statement published on the president’s website on Sunday.

Russian forces invaded Ukraine on 24 February. Their indiscriminate shelling of urban areas has resulted in thousands of deaths as Ukraine’s beleaguered defenders attempt to keep them out of the capital Kyiv.