An American soldier who fought in Ukraine says some foreign volunteers thought it would be like a vacation: They died.

An American veteran who fought in Ukraine until December reports that some foreign volunteers who joined Kiev’s forces were killed because they thought it was almost a holiday and wanted to be heroes. Business Insider.

The American soldier joined the Ukrainian forces shortly after the Russian invasion began in February 2022 and fought in some of the fiercest battles for the city of Bahmut in the Donetsk region.

“Western fighters who joined the war in Ukraine were killed, in some cases, because they thought the fighting would be easier,” he told Business Insider on condition of anonymity.

He says that many soldiers from other countries who joined Kiev’s forces were used to fighting with better weapons and had difficulty adjusting when the Russians enjoyed technological and numerical superiority.

“Many Westerners who come to Ukraine want to be heroes. I keep seeing guys go to Ukraine and treat it like a vacation, they don’t expect to actually die,” he added.

The American veteran admits he had the same mindset when he joined Ukrainian forces, but says he later realized how different the conflict was from Iraq, where he had participated in the past.

Among the things he was not used to, he had to fight under conditions of enemy superiority in long-range artillery. The widespread use of kamikaze drones by the Russians since last year has made it more difficult to find a safe haven, he says.

In Iraq, if you were on a base, “you were relatively safe,” the military says. But in Ukraine, “Even if you’re miles behind the godly front lines, you can still be hit by a godly missile.”

Russians have become the ‘alpha predator’ on the battlefield, says one US veteran

Another American soldier still fighting in Ukraine, nicknamed “Jackie,” said in early April that Russian forces had once again become the “alpha hunter” on the battlefield because they could launch artillery attacks on infantry and Ukrainian armored forces without Kiev’s artillery. A lack of projectiles made it possible to respond.

“When our comrades fight the Russians infantry to infantry, we crush them. There is nothing special at this point. We only have to suppress the Russian artillery and armor. Once infantry to infantry, we win,” said a statement published on April 5. He recalled in an interview.

But the Ukrainian forces’ stockpile of missiles and rockets had dwindled so much by that time that it was no longer a tactic Kiev’s forces could rely on, he said.

“As our artillery approaches zero, the balance tilts significantly in favor of the Russian side,” said this American soldier, who joined Kiev’s forces from the beginning of the war.

After half a year of deadlock in the Washington legislature, the US Congress finally approved a new military aid package for Ukraine on April 20.

American soldiers from Ukraine have entered the shadow cone in the United States

In the early stages of the war, American soldiers attached to the Ukrainian army played a key role in drawing the attention of American public opinion to the conflict, but after the topic of military aid to Kiev, the impact of their messages has significantly decreased. Washington is politicized by the political class.

In addition, a series of investigations published by American media revealed that in some cases American soldiers in Ukraine squandered donations received from home, fought among themselves out of personal pride, or provided false information about their military experience to Kiev.

James Vasquez, the best-known American soldier who fought in Ukraine, falls into the last category. Vasquez was not sent to Kuwait, Iraq or anywhere else, as he claimed, the Pentagon clarified last year.

He specialized in electrical and heating system repair and entered the Army Reserve, not as a sergeant as he presented himself, but one of the lowest ranks in the Army.

He fought alongside Da Vinci’s Wolves, one of the most notorious Ukrainian factions, until March 2023, when the New York Times asked him about his false claims about military service.

He immediately deactivated his Twitter account and said he might leave Ukraine after authorities discovered he was fighting without a mandatory military contract. An account created on March 23, 2023 on “X,” the former Twitter network, uses his name and still posts updates about the war, but it’s unclear if it belongs to him.

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