Independent paramilitary groups have a long tradition in Poland. Since Russia moved into Ukraine, these groups have seen membership triple to about 80,000—by comparison, the Polish Armed Forces are 120,000 soldiers strong.

For this episode of VICE INTL, our German office visited Poland to get a close look at these independent militias. They accompanied trainers, weekend warriors, and the so-called “uniform students” to see how Poland is prepared to defend itself from invasion with a homegrown paramilitary resistance.