Importance Score: 68 / 100 🔴
A clandestine **training base for foreign fighters in Ukraine**, situated merely 25 miles from the frontline, might seem an improbable place to find a mild-mannered 26-year-old from Northamptonshire.
Yet, this former member of the Royal Anglian Regiment exemplifies the growing count of international combatants – veterans and civilians alike – enlisting in Kyiv’s armed forces. This particular Briton, identifiable only by his call sign “Snow,” harbors no illusions regarding the perils he confronts.
‘I fully anticipate dying here,’ he admits, exhaling smoke from a slim cigar. ‘I’ve made peace with that.’ Gesturing eastward through the pine forest enveloping them in the Kharkiv region, he adds, ‘As long as the new recruits understand that crossing that boundary entails the potential of not returning, we’ll manage.’
The Reality of Combat: A Foreign Fighter’s Perspective
Since his relocation from the UK to Ukraine two years prior, Snow has experienced his share of what he terms “scraps.”
Primarily operating with the special forces of Ukraine’s Defence Intelligence (GUR), Snow’s assignments are largely confidential, though the extensive tattoos on his face hint at the lethal nature of his work. Beneath his left eye reside three teardrops – two cerulean, one scarlet. ‘Each signifies ten Russians eliminated,’ he states. ‘I’ll need another one soon.’
He reveals only that he has engaged in combat within Russian territory in Belgorod and Bryansk, and endured intense fighting in the Ukrainian cities of Kup’yans’k and Chasiv Yar, as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions, earning him both the Presidential Medal and the Special Operations Medal.
New Mission: Recruiting for the 3rd Assault Brigade
Currently, he is vested with a novel mission. Snow is responsible for enlisting English-speaking individuals for a unit within Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade.
Selfie enthusiasts, social media warriors, and glory seekers need not apply. He seeks genuine fighting men and women prepared to confront the harsh realities as this brutal conflict enters its fourth year. When representatives from the Mail visited the brigade’s **training center in Kyiv** and its advanced **training base**, seasoned veterans like Snow illuminated how technological progress has engendered ‘man-made atrocities surpassing comprehension.’
This British volunteer, known only by the call sign Snow, is tasked with recruiting English speakers for a unit in Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade
Russia’s abundant resources – manpower, artillery, and drones – feel ‘unlimited,’ and increasingly, the trenches are shielded to avert detection by ubiquitous drones. No end seems imminent either. While forecasting the actions of the new US administration would be imprudent, Donald Trump’s fervent endeavor to negotiate a peace accord within his initial 100 days in office has been a manifest failure.
He appears to have finally exhausted his patience with Vladimir Putin, who has repeatedly dismissed accommodating terms and persists in launching attacks on Ukrainian civilians, disregarding warnings from the US President.
Foreign Fighters Stream Into Ukraine
Concurrently, Kyiv has ratified a minerals agreement with the US, which, accordingly, sanctioned the initial $50 million tranche of military assistance for Ukraine since assuming power. Concurrently, the influx of foreign volunteers to Ukraine is increasing. One serviceman involved in recruitment cited ‘a significant surge’ in applications following Trump’s vehement rebuke of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in February.
The anonymous source informed the Kyiv Independent news website that they had observed ‘a substantial segment of individuals expressing indignation and shock regarding the transformation in American policy’.
Improving Recruitment and Training
The 3rd Assault Brigade refrains from commenting on the political currents of the conflict but receives hundreds of volunteers from diverse nations monthly, owing to a concerted endeavor to enhance recruitment, treatment, and training. Furthermore, in contrast to the initial phases, those arriving are aware of what awaits them and arrive prepared to engage in combat and potentially perish.
For Snow, this constitutes a notable transformation in the conflict. ‘There was a period where the volume and caliber of recruits declined,’ he noted. ‘You’d encounter individuals arriving as war tourists, seeking to capture photographs. Combat here is exceedingly challenging, and I discourage individuals who anticipate arriving and becoming a sniper or a formidable killer. No, you must arrive, train, and acknowledge that navigating the system requires time.’
With Putin announcing a further mobilization of 160,000 personnel last month, these **foreign fighters are essential to Ukraine’s war effort**.
Having reduced the conscription age from 27 to 25 last year, Mr. Zelensky has resisted pressure to lower it further in response to Moscow’s ceaseless stream of expendable young lives.
The 3rd Assault Brigade does not comment on the political ebbs and flows of the conflict but they get hundreds of volunteers from around the world every month
He contends that this is because he will not sacrifice ‘the youth of soldiers’ to compensate for the deficit in military resources, instead advocating for increased Western armaments to impede the Russian advance.
However, analysts assert that the genuine underlying factor is demographic. Ukraine has experienced a declining birth rate since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and its 18 to 25-year-olds constitute the smallest cohort of adults under 70. Currently, due to the war, Ukraine possesses the lowest birthrate in Europe. Were Mr. Zelensky to dispatch the under-25s to combat, no young men would remain in Ukraine to procreate and rebuild the nation upon the cessation of this sanguinary conflict.
Therefore, for Kyiv, the future hinges significantly on the bravery of individuals like Snow, who have departed their homeland to uphold Western principles in the trenches of eastern Ukraine. Perhaps most astonishing during their visit was the resolute optimism exhibited by both new and seasoned individuals, reinforced by a recent augmentation of weaponry and assistance from Europe.
Stories from the Front Lines: Motivation and Determination
Few articulated this sentiment better than a new 25-year-old volunteer from Lancashire, identified by the call sign Blackburn. Having served in the British Army for three years, he was studying at home merely a month before when he resolved to contribute to Ukraine’s defense. He had undergone three weeks of training in Kyiv when they met and had commenced his second three-week assignment in the Kharkiv region, after which he would be prepared for deployment.
Queried about his apprehension concerning recent setbacks, Blackburn responded resolutely: ‘These are trying times, but I adhere to the belief that adversity forges resilient individuals. You have the option to adopt a pessimistic perspective and harbor anxieties, or you can brace yourself, persevere, and potentially witness a victorious outcome. ‘If you yield to panic and apprehension, there is no place for that. This is a war zone. You must maintain composure, maintain confidence, and persevere steadfastly. As a former serviceman, I felt obligated. I possess the requisite expertise and understanding, which can be applied here, so I simply packed my belongings, departed, and became involved.’
His sentiments were echoed by two fellow Britons at the Kharkiv area base: call sign Hug, 19, from London, and call sign Lando, 22, from Surrey. While Lando had served in the UK military, Hug had not, it was evident that both were predisposed to be soldiers and deeply motivated to fight.
‘I harbor no animosity towards Russians,’ Lando disclosed amid a thunderous session of target practice in a woodland clearing. ‘My animosity is directed at Putin. I have arrived to exert every effort to assist these individuals.’
Volunteers Blackburn, 25, from Lancashire, Snow, 26, from Northamptonshire, Hug, 19, from London and Lando, 22, from Surrey
Back in Kyiv, where new arrivals undergo three weeks of comprehensive fitness assessments, strategic sessions, language instruction, and combat medic training, a consistent mindset prevailed.
At the war’s inception, 80% of the **foreign volunteers in Ukraine** were former military personnel. Currently, the distribution between civilians and veterans is approximately 50-50. This division was largely reflective of the demographic they encountered. A 48-year-old bearing the call sign Little Bird had recently arrived from California, lacking any prior military experience.
‘I’ve already accepted that I’m probably going to kill and die here. I’ve come to terms with that,’ he declared. ‘I came here for the people and for democracy. I figured I could help here. It seems like the people need help.’ Accompanying him as he acquired the skill of assaulting sodden trenches on a dreary day in Kyiv was Bird, a 24-year-old Latvian woman who spent her childhood in Somerset.
She had already served a year as a combat medic before – determined to join the fight – she enrolled with the 3rd Assault Brigade. She had attempted to enlist for frontline combat in 2022 but was rejected due to her lack of military background. Now, she has caused her family considerable concern by traveling to Ukraine – but believes that what is at stake transcends individual relationships. ‘My stepdad is Russian. My mum isn’t happy about me being here,’ she conveyed.
‘But I thought, screw the family, you’ve got to help other families. Sacrifice one to help many.’
Similarly, King a 20-year-old from Southampton, was candid about his motives. ‘I think what’s happening here is very wrong and I think you’ve got to be the difference you want to see,’ he said outside a Ukrainian language class in the Kyiv training center. ‘It’s all about making the difference and, if you’re not going to do it, then who is?’
King had envisioned becoming a soldier for years, but medical restrictions in the UK prevented him from realizing his aspiration in his homeland. It is individuals such as him that Ukraine urgently requires – for they possess no misapprehensions about what awaits them.
The Brutal Reality of Drone Warfare
Tiger, a 24-year-old from Austria who has been fighting since 2022, described the experiences awaiting the new recruits. During his service in the trenches, Tiger has witnessed verdant forests morph into a landscape resembling the lunar surface after incessant Russian mortar bombardments.
‘I’ve already kind of figured that I am going to kill and die here. I’ve come to terms with that,’ one recruit said
Of the eight-man unit he joined, two have perished, and he is the sole member uninjured. However, this is not to suggest that Tiger has not encountered his own share of precarious situations.
On one occasion, he was relentlessly pursued and cornered by a First-Person View (FPV) kamikaze drone and resigned himself to his fate. However, just as it retreated to orient itself for the conclusive strike, the drone tumbled backward and crashed. On numerous occasions, he has been compelled to flee on foot from drones, weaving through trees, hoping the pilot’s skill would prove insufficient to maintain pursuit.
Thus far, he has prevailed. ‘You feel like prey. It’s a real primal feeling,’ he recounts from the forward training base from Kharkiv region where he is assisting Snow with his recruits. ‘It is akin to being hunted by a pack of wolves or a lion. It is impersonal; they merely intend to eliminate you.’
Each day is a lethal game of cat-and-mouse in occurrences reminiscent of scenes from the Terminator films. FPV drones traverse the battlefield in a straight trajectory, but upon detecting a target, they pause, pivot, and pursue. ‘Often, they will fly immediately past you without detecting you,’ Tiger imparted. ‘However, should a drone cease its motion – one must flee. A proficient FPV pilot has the capacity to maneuver through any cluster of trees. If it fails to apprehend you, they possess thousands more at their disposal.’
It is this technology that has fundamentally reshaped the dynamics of the battlefield.
Snow articulates, ‘A few years prior, it was feasible to venture outdoors with relative assurance. There was a considerable presence of ground troops, abundant infantry, and engaging gunfights – precisely what draws individuals here, to engage on the ground, engage physically, and partake in “good scraps”. Yet, currently, one must consistently conceal oneself at all times. In Chasiv Yar, we were perpetually exposed. The moment one ventured outdoors, there would be approximately 50 to 100 drones overhead.’
‘Each and every movement was being monitored.’
In this dystopian environment, winter, previously the dread of every infantryman’s existence, now serves as their benefactor.
Each day is a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in scenes that could be lifted straight out of the Terminator movies
‘Due to the weather – precipitation, snowfall, ice – drones are unable to sustain flight for prolonged durations,’ Snow elaborates. ‘However, during the summer, when conditions are pleasant, temperate, and sunny, drones operate incessantly.’
Snow further cautions his recruits against underrating the Russians. In this context, former Western military personnel occasionally manage worse than civilians – arriving with a bravado that rapidly dissipates upon their initial confrontation with an adversary that is superior in manpower and equipment. ‘This is authentic warfare,’ imparts Snow, who actively served in Mali as part of a UN peacekeeping mission during his tenure in the British forces.
‘The Russians seem to possess infinite artillery munitions, boundless personnel, and unlimited drones,’ he conveys. ‘The mode in which the Russians conduct warfare renders them among the most adept at fortifying and reinforcing their positions. Their defensive capabilities are formidable. They engage in unconventional tactics and squander lives prodigiously. They pose a formidable challenge to engage.’
Morale Remains High Despite Challenges
Yet, while Putin’s forces seem to be advancing slowly but implacably, the moral remains invigorated for Snow and his comrades.
In recent weeks, they have witnessed a substantial upsurge in deliveries of firearms, munitions, and military apparatus from nations spanning Europe. There has been a notable surge in the provision of shotguns, specifically, which they employ to neutralize drones.
Concurrently, Britain is furnishing technical advancements to counter the menace from drones and is a prominent purveyor of grenades, which are pivotal in trench warfare. Ukraine has accommodated this convergence of time-honored Soviet warfare with NATO equipment and proficiency to such a degree that its officers are advising Western militaries based on their accumulated knowledge.
Ultimately, it is evident that irrespective of the diplomatic maneuvers of politicians thousands of miles distant, the men and women positioned here on the front have a tenacity and unwavering resolve to persevere regardless of the circumstances.
‘The Ukrainians are exceptional combatants,’ Snow affirms. ‘They convey profound gratitude for every international individual present here. We have arrived to render assistance to their populace, as we firmly believe it aligns with ethical principles.’