The lies and failures of US volunteers in Ukraine
As the Ukraine war commenced, many Americans went to Ukraine as volunteers. But many of them gave false information about their military experience, got into conflict with each other, and deviated from the main purpose of the war
After Russia invaded Ukraine, many Americans rushed to the battlefield to fight for Ukraine. Many of them were members of the military, some raised money for the war, and many pledged war equipment.
However, a year into the war, many of these American volunteers are now getting into conflicts among themselves and deviated from the war's purpose. Some squandered money raised for the war and many fabricated false stories of their previous military experience.
Some are trying to fuel personal gains from the war. Details have been reported by The New York Times.
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A retired US Marine lieutenant colonel is currently at the centre of a federal investigation. He is accused of illegally exporting military technology to Ukraine. Another soldier traitorously joined Russia while fighting for Ukraine.
A man from Connecticut travelled to Ukraine after fabricating his military experience. He went on a live broadcast from the battlefield exposing the exact position of his unit. He also expressed pride in the availability of US weapons. Another former US construction worker is planning to bring fighters from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine using fake passports.
The Biden administration is helping Ukraine with weapons and money, but no professional troops. That is, people who would have never come close to a US-led war are now active on the frontlines of Ukraine with vast amounts of weapons and military equipment.
Many volunteers went to Ukraine on goodwill after the war broke out. They are fighting bravely for Ukraine risking their lives. Many have already died. Some aided civilians, others tended to the wounded. Many have arranged for financial donations to keep vital supplies running.
The New York Times examined more than 100 pages of documents from volunteer groups and interviewed more than 30 volunteers, fighters, fundraisers, donors, and US and Ukrainian officials.
After the start of the war in Ukraine, the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on the well-wishers of Ukraine to join the war. Responding to this call, many foreign citizens went to fight for Ukraine. Many of them joined the International Legion group created by Ukraine for foreign fighters. As the capital of Ukraine was under attack, these foreign fighters did not have the opportunity to visit the past history.
When asked about this, the Ukrainian army did not say anything clearly. However, it said that Russian agents regularly sought to infiltrate these volunteer groups, so Ukrainian forces were always on the lookout.
The International Legion, hastily formed by the Ukrainian government, spent 10 minutes or less checking each volunteer's background early in the war, one Legion official said.
Ukrainian officials initially boasted of 20,000 potential Legion volunteers, but far fewer actually enlisted. Currently, there are around 1,500 members in the organisation, say people with knowledge of the Legion.
Some are experienced fighters working as part of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine. But there have been high-profile problems. A former Army private first class, John McIntyre, was ejected from the Legion for bad behaviour. McIntyre defected to Russia and recently appeared on state-run television, which said he had provided military intelligence to Moscow.
