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May 11th, 2024 | 1:41 AM ET

Brothers in Arms: Americans who Volunteer to Join the Fight in Ukraine

KYIV, UKRAINE – MAY 5: Ukrainian servicemen stand next to the coffin of Christopher Campbell, an American volunteer soldier of the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, who was killed fighting Russian troops in Bakhmut, during the funeral service at Saint Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery on May 5, 2023 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Thousands of foreign volunteer soldiers had flocked to Ukraine following its invasion by Russia in February of last year. (Photo by Roman Pilipey/Getty Images)
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Posted: February 23rd, 2024

By The Cipher Brief

SUBSCRIBER+ EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW – It’s one of the lesser known and less-publicized stories of the two-year-long war in Ukraine: Americans who have joined the fight. From volunteers on the frontlines to private sector executives with keyboards, a number of Americans are working directly alongside the Ukrainians in this war.

In the early days after Russia’s invasion, the Biden Administration issued clear warnings to Americans against traveling to Ukraine, and made clear that there must be no official U.S. “boots on the ground“ there. That’s a function of U.S. fear that Americans who decide to engage in direct combat with the Russian military may spark a wider war. But some volunteers did not heed the warning.

“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62

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Categorized as:Europe Reporting UkraineTagged with:

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