“It’s a holy war”: British medic sees Ukraine’s battle against “pure evil”

Last week, an emotional video with a combat medic saying he is ashamed to be a Westerner and calling on Western governments to give Ukraine what it needs to win lest it is exterminated made rounds on social media.

We found the man in the video: despite early claims, Peter Fouche, originally from South Africa, is not with the International Legion, a unit for foreigners who want to join the Ukrainian Army, but with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He became a combat medic despite an initial aversion to blood, runs the charity Project Konstantin (part of our Verified Ways to Help the Army list), which conducts casualty evacuations and procures ambulances for frontline medics, and says that if Western nations don’t give Ukraine the weapons it needs yesterday, they better keep them for themselves.

Here is a shortened text version of our interview; watch the full version here:

What compelled you to join the Ukrainian Army?

I’m a father and an ex-policeman. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, I was in London, my mother had come from South Africa to visit. I saw the news of children being murdered [in Ukraine] on TV. As a father, my protective instincts kicked in. I shouted, “Mom, I’m going to Ukraine.” That was my driving reason: to protect the children of Ukraine so no more parents have to go through the pain of losing a child.

How old are you? Do you have kids?

I’m 49, and my daughter is 15 years old.

Do you have any personal connection to Ukraine?

No, not at all. Although I have developed a saying, “Yesterday I was a Brit, today I am a Ukrainian.” I love your country, I love your culture, and your incredible peaceful soulful connection. It’s in the way you cook, you speak, you sing. I think I’ve been connected to Ukraine since long before I was born.

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