Thousands of Ukrainians are returning to Ukraine as the war against Russia intensifies and manpower is needed on the ground field.

More than 1 million Ukrainians flocked back to Ukraine in order to fight Russian forces.

Defense minister Oleksii Reznikov stated that about 140,000 Ukrainians return to the country to take part in the war and assist the military forces of Ukraine.

“More than 140,000 Ukrainians, mostly men, have returned from Europe,” Reznikov wrote on Monday. “Tens of thousands joined the Territorial Defense Forces. Of course, there are those who run away. But the whole world sees the Ukrainian people fighting for their country.”

The defense minister further stated that “more than 20,000 appeals from foreigners who are ready to come to Ukraine and defend the world from the Russian Nazis on the Ukrainian front” in order to prevent “the Kremlin’s evil” from spreading.”

The volunteers were turned down by the military force of Ukraine.

There have been pictures and videos making rounds on different social media platforms where unarmed Ukrainians can be seen circling Russian war vehicles in order to stop them or slow down their advancement.

Mark Savchuk is the coordinator of the Ukraine Volunteer Journalists Initiative (UVJI) and is a Kyiv-based journalist. He said that he tried to join the army along with a friend, but both the guys were turned away.

“I can’t join, because I was specifically told ‘no room,’” Savchuk said. “We are yelling for more weapons because we can’t put more people on the front line. Please give us more weapons, so that all of us can fight.”

A member of the Ukrainian parliament Maryan Zablotskyy has stated that they are trying to get hands-on more supplies to prepare against the assault on the city of Kyiv by Russia.

“We are working to get more supplies to Kyiv as the main battleground,” Zablotskyy said. He further added that Ukraine “emptied all the stores in [the European Union] for bulletproof vests and are sending them to the army. I’m ordering a pack from Turkey today.” He clarified that Ukraine bought “everything that EU’s gun stores had for sale or manufacturers in stock.”

Maryan Zablotskyy added that “Ukraine is working on star link, night vision, and thermal scopes supplies to combat the Russian assault.”