Six American special ops veterans join the fight in Ukraine

Source: Daily Mail

Six American special ops veterans are on the Polish border, ready to enter Ukraine and join the resistance against Putin's army after a call for help from President Zelensky.

The men are joined by three British veterans and a German, all of whom are NATO-trained and ready to assist the Ukrainian territorial defense teams.

They are believed to be among the first to join the newly formed International Legion of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine that Zelensky announced on Sunday after a weekend of staving off the enemy.

BuzzFeed News cites an unnamed US Army veteran recruiter who said there are also two former US infantry officers ready to fly to the region to provide leadership for the group.

They will join sixty British volunteers who are also planning to make their way to Ukraine to help the fight.

Those former Army and Special Forces soldiers have been gathered by Mamuka Mamulashvili, 43, commander of the Georgian National Legion.

It is unclear if he also recruited the ten NATO troops who are already on the Polish border.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Sunday the UK would back Britons if they traveled to join the resistance movement who are bravely repelling the Russian forces.

The White House has not made any such endorsement.

British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said he didn't 'want to see British people killed any more than I want to see Ukrainians' and asked people who were not properly trained or an 'experienced member of an armed force' not to join the war in Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was 'very dangerous', he told Sky News, and there were 'better ways' to support the country.

In an interview with MailOnline, commander Mamulashvili said: 'I have a very big group of Britons, around sixty traveling to Ukraine to join up with my Georgian National League unit.

'They are traveling by car from the UK and will cross over at the Polish border. I am expecting them here with equipment and supplies in the next few days.

'They are mostly guys who have fought with me in Ukraine before but there are also new recruits as well.

'We will provide them with training and weapons and they are coming from London and all over Britain.

'Their background is former British Army and Special Forces and they are good fighters, they can be trusted to take on the Russian aggressors and most importantly win.

'What I want to stress is that none of them are getting paid, they are not mercenaries, they are all volunteers.'

Commander Mamulashvili is a veteran of the 2008 war against Russia in Georgia and a mixed martial arts expert and founded the unit in 2014 to provide foreign fighters in Ukraine's war against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region.

He added: 'The guys from the UK are just bringing basic equipment with their uniforms and rations, they will get weapons when they arrive.

'Putin is very much mistaken if he thinks he will take Ukraine, he will face a fight to the death as the Ukrainian army has shown how brave and strong it is.' 

'They have experience and now they have good equipment from the rest of Europe and the world and now we have the backing of some of the best foreign volunteer soldiers in the world.'

'We know some of us might die but unless we fight against Russia, Putin will just keep going and trying to take countries.  When he went into Georgia in 2008 the then President of my country said Ukraine would be next and he was right.'

Father-of-two Mamulashvili added that he 'expected' the number of volunteers from Britain and elsewhere to top 500 within the next few days after having received dozens of requests asking for details on how to join up.

He added: 'My advice for anyone from the UK who wants to come and fight is to get in touch with the Ukrainian embassy in London and they will advise how to get to our base.

'If that is not possible volunteers should make their way to Poland and cross the border into Ukraine and head for the city of Lviv where we have a mobilization base and make themselves known to the local authorities but for obvious reasons I cannot give you the exact address.'

Earlier this year it emerged that at least two Brits were fighting in Ukraine, Aiden Aslin, 28, from Newark, Nottinghamshire and Sean Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire.

Harry Jackson, 27, who founded UK Aid for Ukraine, and launched an appeal on Facebook for volunteers and equipment said he had been 'flooded with offers of help'.

Harry said: 'I'm putting people in touch with Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian National Legion.

'I have helmets, flak jackets and medical supplies all going out as well as a group of volunteers.'

On Sunday President Zelensky urged foreigners to head to Ukrainian embassies in their home countries to sign up for an 'international brigade' to help fight invading Russian forces.

He said: 'All foreigners wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupiers and protect global security are invited by the Ukrainian leadership to come to our state and join the ranks of the territorial defence forces,' Zelensky said in a statement on the presidential website.

'A separate unit is being formed from foreigners — the International Brigade of the territorial defence of Ukraine. This will be a key testimony of your support for our country.'

Since 2016 it has been legal for foreigners to join the Ukrainian army.