During these two years of war in Ukraine, people from all over the world felt compelled – either by ideology, compassion, or expectations of monetary gains – to head for the theatre of hostilities to engage in combat for one of the warring sides.
What’s in a name? If they choose the side we support, we call them ‘volunteers’; if they fight for the enemy, we call them ‘mercenaries’.
One way or another, US citizens are NOT exceptions to the rule and have been recorded to be taking part on both sides of this conflict from the very start.
Going through the Telegram channels covering this war, we find a few recent examples of Americans directly involved in the operations. As you would expect, some of them disguise their identities to avoid retaliation.
An American fighter with the call sign ‘Vil’, who fights on the Russian side defending the Donbas and participated in the conquest of Avdeevka, was filmed planting the US flag as a sign of friendship.
“We’re here to plant the US flag as a sign of friendship and support for all the things that people are enduring here.
And that’s, it’s a small token of… a small task that we can do to show our support. I mean, just we have to end this [war]. I mean, you look around Avdeevka and you see what’s happening, you see the destroyed buildings… you see, these are people’s homes.
We need to support Russia. We have to have friendship.
We have to make sure that all the goals laid out [by Putin] are fulfilled and we just have to stop this and we have to do everything we can to help, and – you know, there’s old glory, the US flag and I hope that people back home see it.
I hope people understand, and look at independent facts, right? Do your own research, do your own homework, find out what’s really going on here.
We have to support these people, we have to help them. We have to stop this.
I feel proud, I feel proud to be here. I’ve met amazing people. I’m standing with amazing people that have done a lot for this [operation] and to help people – and that’s what it’s about.
That’s why I’m here. That’s what I want to do. And these guys that I’m here with, these guys are incredible people. My hats off to them, what they do on a daily basis is just unbelievable.
It’s incredible. And to people back home that are in the military and that have been to war, I’m a veteran from Afghanistan to people that have been through this, they understand it.
And we haven’t seen anything like this. Even in Afghanistan, this is something, I mean, the entire city is rubble.
This is unbelievable. And in, in Afghanistan – I was in the Air Force for 10 years in Afghanistan. I’ve never seen anything like this. This is unbelievable.
The work that’s being done here, it’s just incredible. We have to help these guys.”
US volunteer fighting for Russia raises ‘Old Glory’ in sign of friendship. pic.twitter.com/Ymoj0nXTUg
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) February 25, 2024
Anecdotal evidence suggests many more Americans have decided to fight for Ukraine. But at this juncture, what we see, understandably, are mostly disillusioned guys giving up.
One of these guys shared his story with Russian media, revealing why he decided to quit and how he believes the Ukrainian crisis can be put to bed.
Sputnik reported:
“According to [him], who went by the call sign Maverick and fought in Ukraine for a total of about 4 months in 2022 and 2023, […] the rivalry between fighters over money and personal jealousies cannot be overstated, and ‘fratricide’ – or the murder of your own men, ‘is a problem in Ukraine’ that ‘few people write about’.
[…] Taking prisoners of war is ‘a luxury’, and putting a bullet in the heads of wounded captured soldiers is seen as acting ‘ethically and pragmatically’.”The American fighter has serious grievances against the very population he chose to fight for.
“The most rabid ‘Ukrainian patriots’ sit in cafes in Kiev or do well-paid tech jobs in Lvov safely behind the frontlines, while ‘unlucky’ poor ordinary Ukrainian men from godforsaken villages are forced to fight, with the latter’s morale ‘understandably low’.
Maverick left Ukraine after losing ‘trust in many foreign fighters’, suffering a series of injuries, and experiencing outrage at the thought of fighting for Ukrainian ‘patriots’ who don’t seem to care about their own country.”
Another American fresh from the Ukrainian frontlines, Benjamin Reed, took to his social media sharing a story all-too-similar.
As he lounges in pool, he recounts war crimes he witnessed by Kiev’s troops.
His “favorite” order was to gun down everyone in trenches if unsure whether they were Russian or Ukrainian troops , saying ‘those guys are kill-crazy cowboys, nothing more’.
American volunteer reflects on his fighting for Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/YoGQv2wEVB
— Paul Serran (@paul_serran) February 25, 2024
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