Ukraine war vet leaves family in Poland to return to fight Russia

FILE PHOTO: Dmytro Dovzhenko, a Ukrainian veteran and military medical instructor, speaks during an interview with Reuters at his home in Wroclaw, Poland February 12, 2022. REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki/File Photo

KORCZOWA, Poland (Reuters) - As Ukrainian refugees throng border crossings to flee the Russian invasion, war veteran Dmytro Dovzhenko is headed in the opposite direction from Poland to rejoin his military unit.

The 40-year-old, who fought in Donbass in 2014, told Reuters on Friday that he had left his wife and two children behind and was among some 700 former Ukrainian soldiers in Poland he estimated were returning home to fight.