It's a fine line to walk, though, like I imagine there is a lot of alienation and despair that drives communists in the imperial core to volunteer for internationalist brigades - I've followed a few people who volunteered in Rojava/YPG-I* over the years and some definitely struggled with their mental health before they made their decisions. I personally was close to doing so when I was particularly bad around 2016-2018.

Then again, those who did volunteer appear to have a new perspective on revolution once they return home. They become more active in organising in their communities and don't seem to be as paralysed by despair as before. I can't ever be sure if that's a pattern or an anecdotal observation but you certainly don't hear of folks taking their lives post-service like you do of veterans in the imperial militaries.

One thing that absolutely differentiates the two, though, is that Azov and Ukraine at large prey on this alienation. Azov like any fash movement is fueled by the doomerism and mental anguish of people like this redditor to serve as their blood sacrifice for fascism. Socialist brigades have historically not wanted their volunteers to die; they recruit for teachers, engineers, farmers, and medics as much as they recruit for soldiers. Does Azov and Ukraine offer anything other than making oneself "immortal" through glorious combat against the "Russian hoards"?

Idk that's my two pence on the matter. May this redditor either find the help they're calling out for, or meets a vain end in their pursuit of fascism. I have a feeling they are seeking the former, given my own memory of how quick these "plans" fall apart once someone offers anything other than cynicism to guide you. I wouldn't be so quick to assume how well they've thought it through.

^* Yes the party line on Rojava and the SDF is negative, and rightly so, but most of the volunteers of the YPG-I were absolutely comitted to their pursuit of communalism, and the org itself was particularly strict on communalist education of foreigners.^