After a thrilling first few months of unexpected successes that boosted morale among Ukrainian ranks, the reality of Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II has taken its toll on some of the thousands of foreign fighters who traveled from the ‘foreigner to fight the Russian invaders.
The war has long since overtaken Ukraine’s victory in the suburbs of Kyiv, which are still scarred by the mass graves and blown-up buildings of the Russian occupation. Instead, after months of battle, soldiers press for excruciatingly incremental gains from trenches in the grassy plains and agricultural fields of the country’s east and south.
Now it’s a grueling artillery fest.
A soldier from the Karpatska Sich battalion talks to his commander by radio at the front in Kharkiv on July 20. Evgeniy Maloletka / AP
Round after round hits near Ukrainian lines, filling the air with dirt, sand and ash and forcing soldiers to dig into deep trenches. As Ukrainian troops wait for an opening or calculate the position of a potential target, explosions echo around them with regular noises, sometimes for 12 hours at a time. The apparent randomness of the hits heightens the feeling among some that survival can come down to pure luck.
An American fighting for Ukraine who served in the US military with combat tours in the Middle East described the constant Russian shelling of the city of Severodonetsk in Ukraine’s Donbas region as “the most the like I ever saw in hell.”
The Armed Forces of Ukraine estimate that Russia uses eight times more artillery munitions each day, firing thousands more shells than the Ukrainians and hampering their efforts.
“We lost three guys,” the soldier said after fighting near Severodonetsk. “My commander was killed out there. A friend of mine was killed out there. When it happens like that, it’s hard to imagine the way forward.”
Ukraine’s losses have been heavy: between 100 and 200 casualties per day at the worst moments of the war, according to Ukraine’s own estimates. Those brutal losses have eroded morale within the ranks and in other units, five non-Ukrainian soldiers said in interviews over the past month. Four of the soldiers have not released their identities and asked that their names not be used out of concern for their safety so they can speak freely about their experiences.
“The number of upset, low-morale people has increased, and that’s partly because of the way the Russians have chosen to fight,” Ripley Rawlings, a retired US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel and author, who provides supplies to foreign fighters in Ukraine through his US-based organization, Ripley’s Heroes, he said.
Rawlings, who traveled to Ukraine recently and is sending everything from goggles and glasses to trucks and electric bikes to the troops there, said that “about half the units we support have received terrible times lately.”
Despite the challenges, fighters who spoke to NBC News remained adamant about their commitment to expel Kremlin forces. The soldiers admitted, however, that supply shortages, delays in receiving weapons promised by the West and communication frustrations have challenged their spirits after months of battle.
Other common complaints included that counteroffensive strategies were undermined by older Ukrainian commanders who clung to Soviet tactics. They also pointed to poor communication between the groups, with one soldier highlighting the lack of “a centralized unit that has everyone on their toes and knows where people are”.
The Kremlin claims that there are no longer any foreign fighters in Ukraine and that those who remain are mercenaries. The Ukrainian International Legion, meanwhile, said its soldiers must follow the same disciplinary rules as other Ukrainian soldiers. They are also paid at the same rate: about $500 per month, depending on rank, with the opportunity for bonuses.
Therefore, they are owed the same treatment as any Ukrainian soldier if captured, said Damien Magrou, a spokesman for the legion.
Magrou, a Dutch lawyer and legion corporal, said at a news conference this month that Russian disinformation has negatively affected the group’s recruitment, reputation and fundraising, and told NBC News on Wednesday that because of recent challenges “are exploring avenues”. to expand our recruitment”.
Legion members are now required to have live combat experience and must pass background checks and a psychological exam to join. Citing security concerns, Magrou declined to say how many soldiers were in the legion or the number of casualties.
“There has been a gradual decline in the number of arrivals over the last few months, which is not at all surprising given that Western media attention has shifted elsewhere and more motivated fighters have taken the his decision at the beginning,” Magrou said. by WhatsApp
Magrou has previously said that more than 50 nationalities from all continents are represented in the legion, with former soldiers from the United States and the United Kingdom being the most common. The Center for Transatlantic Dialogue, a Kyiv-based think tank, estimated that more than 20,000 people have joined the International Legion, although it is not clear how they arrived at that number.
Many of the soldiers who spoke to NBC News said they initially joined to help train Ukrainians after seeing the first, gory images of the war online and ended up joining the fight. Despite recent difficulties, all shared that they are beginning to see promising signs that Ukraine is working to address its weaknesses.
Increased attention to training has turned previously disorganized bands of Ukrainian volunteers into effective soldiers, and moving units to the front more frequently has helped keep soldiers fresh. Two soldiers said they are seeing greater cooperation between units, especially near Russian-held Kherson and Ukrainian-held Mykolaiv, two southern cities that have been at the center of fighting in the region.
“We are so close that we could almost see Kherson, so we are making the necessary moves to make this happen,” one fighter said. “We have all these groups that have worked together in their own areas, but now we’re bringing it together. It increases our capability on the battlefield on a larger scale. It’s, like, pretty cool.”
This effectiveness on the battlefield appears to be driven by the US-origin High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. The arrival of high-powered military equipment promised by Western governments took months, but the recent success of the HIMAR systems has extended the range of Ukraine’s missiles and allowed them to hit Russian-occupied territory well.
The Pentagon pledged to send four more systems on Tuesday, bringing the total to 16 in Ukraine.
The American fighter stationed in Severodonetsk said he and his unit were trapped in a trench for 14 hours on the frontline in eastern Ukraine due to constant Russian shelling, but the next day they were able to see a clear horizon thanks to the long truck mounted on a truck. range rocket launchers sent by the US
“Every one of those artillery positions was destroyed and there was no artillery barrage all day,” he said. “The Russians put it back on because they seem to have an endless supply of… but these weapons, man, are a game changer.”
Still, no one could ignore recent reports of foreign soldiers being captured, killed, and sentenced to death by Russian proxies. From the US alone, the State Department has confirmed the death of two Americans who traveled to Ukraine to join the country’s defense and the capture of two other Americans: Alexander John-Robert Drueke and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh. Another American fighter is still missing.
Andy Huynh and Alexander Drueke, both Americans, were captured while fighting in Ukraine. Facebook
A New Zealander fighting on the southern front in Ukraine, who asked to be identified by his nickname Obi-One, said he and his unit of international soldiers write the names of dead or missing foreign fighters next to Javelin missiles before shooting them. Russian tanks and other vehicles.
“We’re going to hunt targets or look for an opportunity to see if we can do something in memory of these poor people,” said the New Zealander, who did several tours in Iraq. “It makes us angry.”
The State Department said Drueke and Huynh were jailed by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, or DPR, a separatist group in Ukraine under the thumb of Russia. Fighters who spoke to NBC News said they are waiting for Drueke and Huynh to face the same “sham trials” and Russian “kangaroo court” that sentenced Moroccan Brahim Saadoun and Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner to death by the RDP.
Soldiers with a Ukrainian battalion on the front line with Russia in the eastern Donbas region on July 19. Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images
The DPR has appeared to take charge of foreigners who are captured, which the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe recently described as “alarming phenomena”.
“The reason these trials are happening in public is as a deterrent against the addition of other foreign fighters, and so countries need to reach out, recognize and negotiate with these separatists,” Jeffrey Edmonds said. , who served as Russia director in the past. the National Security Council in the Obama administration.
“Given the serious manpower problem the Russians have, these guys coming in with three, four, five tours in Iraq are making a huge impact. I think Russia is concerned and sees the need to deter them by saying, “If you come here, you will not be treated under the rules of the Geneva Convention,” Edmonds said.
Although the foreign soldiers said they were committed to the fight, all openly discussed their intention never to be captured by Russian forces, even stating that they would prefer death, although one fighter admitted that these statements could be boastful.
One soldier, a US Army veteran, stated that he had a small hand grenade hidden on his person with a rope tied to it, and that he planned to pull it if he was ever in danger of being captured. Others spoke of running at Russian soldiers with a knife if they ran out of ammunition or said they carried an extra bullet in a separate pocket “just in case.”
“I always told my guys don’t get caught fighting because they’re going to hurt you a little bit,” said James Vasquez, a former U.S. Army sergeant who fought in Ukraine and now plans to his return to the front. after selling his Connecticut home. “It’s probably especially true for me because my face is out there, but you have to be ready to go out there.”
CORRECTION (July 21, 2022, 4:20 PM ET): An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated in a caption that two Americans, Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh, had been killed while fighting in Ukraine. The State Department has confirmed that the two have been captured; its status is unknown.
