A 24-year-old Albanian is among the volunteers alongside the Ukrainians on the border with Russia. Emanuel Bazanji, a former soldier in the Albanian army, says the current line is the last frontier for democracy. 

"What unites us is the love of freedom, the love of democracy and the love of helping people," Bazanji said. 

"We are not being paid here, we are not asking the Ukrainian government for anything, we are just here to help these people have a better future. That's what unites us, to see people live happily and freely." 

Under the command of a former Georgian military officer named Mamuka Mamulashvili, the Georgian National Legion previously operated as a front-line unit in the early years of the war in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. 

Already stationed on the outskirts of Kiev, this fully volunteer unit has become a recruiting center for foreigners who sign a three-year active service contract with the regular Ukrainian armed forces. 

Since the start of the war in 2014, the Georgian National Legion has enlisted soldiers from 27 countries, including the US, Australia, Germany, Georgia, Mexico, Azerbaijan, UK, Austria, France, Greece, Japan, Croatia and Serbia. 

Currently, as Russia has amassed heavy troops and military equipment at Ukraine's borders, Mamulashvili said there has been an increase in the number of foreigners applying to the Georgia National Legion in hopes of serving in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.