The 35-year-old Sao Paulo man quit his job as a military police officer to travel more than 11,000 kilometers (nearly 7,000 miles) and join Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion.
"I identify with the cause, with the Ukrainian people who are suffering the injustice of a foreign aggressor," said Saulo, who asked that his last name not be used for security reasons.
"And I want to help avoid World War III," he told AFP, laying the items on his short packing list out on his bed alongside his black duffel bag.
Picking up a small Brazilian flag, he added it to the pile.
Although President Jair Bolsonaro has said Brazil will remain "neutral" over the conflict -- drawing criticism in some quarters -- hundreds of Brazilians have taken steps to go fight in Ukraine.
They are looking to join the 20,000 volunteers from more than 50 countries who have applied to join the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, a corps launched to help fend off the invasion, according to figures from the Ukrainian foreign ministry.
Saulo said good-bye to his partner and two children and left Wednesday for Poland, where Brazilians already on the ground have promised to help him join the war.
He bought the one-way ticket with his own money.
Saulo said he made his decision after seeing images from Ukraine of bombed-out residential buildings and hospitals. That convinced him to answer President Volodymyr Zelensky's appeal to join the new foreign legion and fight "elbow to elbow" with the Ukrainian army.
"There's a risk I won't come back. Anyone who goes over there knows that. We're not little kids," said Saulo, who sports a tattoo of a big black skull on his right arm, a knife clutched in its teeth.
His only fear, he said, is the conflict "erupting into nuclear war."
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