2nd International Legion is a unit of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine.
The unit was formed in September 2022 as the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the International Legion, amidst the beginning of the Kharkiv counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces that same month. It was part of an initiative to help expand the International Legion and its operations elsewhere across the country and to address the need for a new unit due to the influx of foreign volunteers entering the country.
It was formed on the basis of veterans from the 1st International Special Forces Company, who had fought in the battles of Lysychansk and Hyryhorivka. Presumably, it was also formed from some elements of the 1st International Legion, as reports indicated that several trucks’ worth of weapons and ammunition had gone missing from a convoy around the same time of the new battalion’s formation.
The battalion has fought heavily since 2023 in the Kreminna direction, defending the Serebryansky Forest. In August 2024, the battalion had also been deployed, presumably limitedly, to the Kursk Salient, where they engaged in close-quarter situations with Russian forces in eastern Kursk.
The unit is composed predominantly of Colombian, Brazilian, British, American, Georgian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian volunteers. Many other nationalities, including Indians, Poles, and French, serve as well. In August 2024, the International Legion was reported to have taken higher casualties than at any other point in its history. Most of these casualties were attributed to the 2nd International Legion.
In March 2025, the commander of the battalion, Colonel Ruslan Myroshnychenko, who had been the commander since the battalion was formed, was replaced by Major Oleksandr Yakymovych.
Insignia
The insignia is displayed with a red border and black canvas, with the lower half featuring a mount in a contrasting red colour with the number two in Roman numerals displayed in black to mark the battalion’s designation. Above this is a stylized knight helmet and spear in grey to symbolize a warrior spirit inside the foreigners serving in the unit.
