From the Front

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Photos from the Front!

The writer is a former military man, now researching and writing about the Ukrainian Conflict. Questions can be sent directly to lhaesten@gmail.com. Sep 26, 2022 (0)

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The Russians are so nice!

Sep 23, 2022

One of my men, now assigned to another unit, and the best friend I have made here - a Brit, as is perhaps obvious from his voice - sent this. The Russians must really secretly...
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The resolve of the people of Ukraine

Oct 20, 2022

The writer is a former military man, now researching and writing about the Ukrainian Conflict. Questions can be sent directly to lhaesten@gmail.com.

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A heroine of Ukraine

Aug 4, 2022

The writer is a former military man, now researching and writing about the Ukrainian Conflict. Questions can be sent directly to lhaesten@gmail.com.

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VAN OWEN

Aug 4, 2022

Military types are a varied lot; such is the nature of any military force. But here, where the Westerners on the ground come from the most varied of backgrounds, the most inte...
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Antonovsky Bridge - Destroyed

Jul 28, 2022

On the night of July 26, the Ukrainian Armed Forces hit two vital bridges in occupied territory. To grasp the full import, we must revisit the opening salvos of Russia's invas...

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Full Ukrainian Jacket

Jul 28, 2022

In my previous article, I wrote about relics of the Soviet years that still litter Ukraine. And without knowing the interlocked history of the two countries, it is difficult t...
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Western volunteers in Ukraine

Jul 24, 2022

All of these men give explicit permission to have their images posted. The writer is a former military man, now researching and writing about the Ukrainian Conflict. Quest...
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Cerberus Komando

Jul 24, 2022

Cerberus Komando is an Afrikaans-named unit helping in Ukraine. The word "commando" in English does not mean the same as "Kommando" is Afrikaans - it means, in Boer, a mounted...
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HIMARS in Ukraine. Vynnitsya - Continuation of Genocide

Jul 15, 2022

Public figures in the US often note that Ukrainians are good at memes. It's a Ukrainian tradition to mark significant events with art and music. When the Turkish company Bayka...

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The Dogs of War

Updated Jul 24, 2022

Please allow me to generalize about Americans and other foreigners serving in Ukraine. Fighting for your own country is to be expected, but it takes a special person to tak...
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Oh So Soviet

Updated Jul 24, 2022

I grew up believing, and not wrongly, that the Soviets stood ready to rain nuclear fire upon the West. In 1983 it almost happened, thanks to a faulty Soviet early warning syst...

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THE FIG

Updated Jul 24, 2022

The reasons why someone with no ties to a country he likely couldn't place on a map six months before he came to fight for it vary so widely that almost any statement made a...

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Maverikski

Updated Jul 24, 2022

It is true that the Ghost of Kyiv turned out to be a patriotic fabrication; then again, the picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware was so absurdly stylized, not ...

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The Impression that I Get

Updated Jul 24, 2022

The newspapers worldwide do a disservice to the truth on the ground, but they have one thing correct: it has turned into a slugfest, a war of attrition, and it is coming dow...
Ukraine is Waiting

Jun 17, 2022

The Ukrainian people are in disbelief about what is happening in the world arena. International communities once revered as top professionals have been exposed as nothing more...

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All Kidding Aside, Finally

Jun 17, 2022

So many aphorisms, wise sayings, koans…whatevers exist about the power of truth. Keats wrote that it was the same as beauty, and inseparable from it; it is said to be libera...
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A luxury We Enjoy

Updated Jul 24, 2022

My time in Ukraine, as much as time on other deployments, has shown me that without a doubt, as Americans we are a privileged people. Not just materially, but in many ways. ...
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Constant State of Unknown

Jun 2, 2022

Ukrainians may be on the front lines in the war with Russia, but the general populace is as clueless about military operations as is the rest of the world. Should military new...

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We Will Rock You

Updated Jul 24, 2022

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Bayraktar - Ukrainan War Army Song

Updated Jul 24, 2022

Morbid Situation at the Front

May 26, 2022

The name says it all. The situation is simply morbid. War is not a fist fight. It is a complex organization of three hierarchies -- strategic, operational and tactical -- sepa...
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Controversial Military Help for Ukraine

May 24, 2022

The other day I stumbled on a YouTube channel where pro-Putin apologists opined that military aid, even for self-defense, spurred violence. I watched in shock as one woman cal...
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Ukrainian Economy - a View from the Ground Up

Updated May 29, 2022

Ukraine's economy is in shambles. War has caused across-the-board job losses, agricultural crises, and metallurgical disasters. The once thriving construction industry is at a...
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Life of a Ukrainian Civilian During War

May 19, 2022

To sum things up - it's pretty hard, but you know that already. I wouldn't go so far as to say that things are horrible, but they're certainly not easy. A disclaimer: I'm not ...
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Professional Ukrainian Soldiers

May 10, 2022

Not many people have found themselves in a situation when they had no choice but to fight, and even fewer when they had to fight in a war. For most civilians, the toll of war ...

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Old Soldier, not bold soldier: the two don't exist in tandem

Updated Jul 24, 2022

This is a picture taken of a soldier walking with a cane, about 65, but stepping up to his duty. I took it surreptitiously, but this is the quality of the people: they are sic...
May 9th in Ukraine

May 9, 2022

It should come as no surprise that May 9 was more subdued than usual this year. Although it was never a major celebration in Ukraine, the way it is in Russia, people always we...
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FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

Updated Jul 24, 2022

So many times in the articles I have submitted to help with this noble work – and I don't say that from a bully pulpit, whatever that is, or with a heroic tear leaking from ...

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VICTORY DAY – 2022

Updated Jul 24, 2022

In days of the Soviet Union, when religions were frowned upon at best and suppressed at worst, Victory Day was one of the most important of secular holidays in Moscow. All Ame...

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When The Fog Lifts

Updated Jul 24, 2022

Hilaire Belloc, the Anglo-French man of letters, soldier, scholar and poet, in an excess of zeal and simplicity, wrote: “Whatever happens, we have got The Maxim gun, and the...

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The Border at Przymysl

Updated Jul 24, 2022

We could learn a thing from the Europeans, who seem to be rallying around the Ukrainians as they flee the onslaught of a “James Bond villain brought to life.” Here at the ...
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Russia is Terrorism

Updated Jun 2, 2022

Catastrophes can happen in an instant, when you least expect it, and life is changed forever. I lived through 9/11. I was a college student at Pace University, right across ...
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War - The Ups and Downs, Everyday

May 2, 2022

Living during war time is emotionally and psychologically daunting to say the least. It's not the bombs and rocket strikes that get you so much, although in the beginning it w...
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Explosions in Transnistria and Russia amid Ukrainian War

Apr 27, 2022

Few reports have trickled out about attacks in Russia and territories controlled by Russia, but over the past two weeks, and especially in the last five days, strategic sites ...
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Shelling in a Country at War - First Hand Encounter

Apr 29, 2022

Here is a personal account of what it is like to live in a place that finds itself under constant bombings and rocket attacks. After more than two months at war, I can almost ...
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Close the Sky - Why?

Apr 25, 2022

Russians have been attacking Ukraine with all the military power it has. For now, they gave it everything attacking the Ukrainian land except for nuclear weapons. As a matter ...
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Easter During War

Apr 22, 2022

Most Ukrainians are Christian Orthodox much like most of Greece. As a matter of fact a religious reconstruction in Kyiv happened under the influence of the Greek Orthodox chur...
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Info War, Moskva - The-Go-F*ck-Yourself War Ship

Updated Apr 21, 2022

The world watched as the supposedly amazing Russian warship embarrassingly went to the bottom of the Black Sea. This came as a surprise to all of us in Ukraine. There is a com...
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The Day After

Updated Apr 21, 2022

The second day of the full fledged war was February 25th. The day after isn't any less memorable than the first by any means. It was a day of total confusion and psychological...
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Volunteering for the Ukrainian Army

Updated Apr 21, 2022

Volunteering for the army is definitely not a new concept in the world. We had volunteers throughout world history especially when it came down to armed conflicts. Many have r...
The First Day of War

Updated Apr 21, 2022

The following will be a recollection of how the war began. The beginning being the first moments when it finally hit home one brisk early morning on February 24th. It is a vas...
!!!Mythbuster - Western Help for Ukrainian Army

Updated Jan 18, 2024

The time has come to dispel a myth. Rumor has it that Ukraine has received ‘unprecedented' help throughout the war. Let's revisit this idea and shine light on the truth ab...