Yesterday at 19:59
Paul Smith aka Yuri, US Army Veteran, Ukrainian Army Veteran. / @nucking_futs_yuri talks about the fact that Ukraine needs more military capabilities and his experience in the fight against the Russian invasion of the world legal order. Here is an interview with Paul Smith.
— I know that you were a veteran of the 59th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Can you share some of the achievements and challenges you faced while serving in the defense forces of Ukraine?
— Some of the achievements we had… I’ve been fighting since the beginning of the war. I arrived in Ukraine on March 13, 2022, and from that time until the offensive in the Mykolaiv region in August of the same year, we faced challenges with training and integrating veterans who were volunteering to fight.
But by that point, Ukraine had become much more professional, using a lot of Western tactics. We were able to achieve victories against Russian positions by utilizing donated weapon systems from the United States and its partners.
However, one major difficulty was that while we were receiving aid, we weren’t getting it in the quantities necessary for a prolonged, high-intensity conflict. So, we had to adapt and make use of Ukrainian ingenuity to maximize the limited resources we had.
— The international support for Ukraine, especially from the U.S., continues, but in insufficient numbers. How could this change the situation on the battlefield, and why are these decisions being made so slowly?
— Right now, I’m in Washington, D.C. I just finished a three-day conference where I spoke to members of the Senate and Congress about the situation on the ground in Ukraine, sharing my firsthand experiences.
There is some bipartisanship, but also reservations about the war, largely due to misinformation and even Russian propaganda. Some are hesitant to fully support Ukraine, which leads to slow decision-making. Many in Congress say they support Ukraine, but sometimes it’s just words, not action.
It’s important to understand that this war is far more intense than what the U.S. experienced in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, and the resources required to fight an adversary like Russia, which has partners like Iran and North Korea, are immense.
— Why is it so difficult to convince people in the Senate and Congress to do the right thing—to support Ukraine and stop the Russian aggression, rather than making concessions?
— A lot of it comes down to the American population.
While a large majority of Americans support Ukraine, there has been successful Russian propaganda influencing public opinion.
This misinformation is reflected in the positions of some representatives. Even though they have more information about what’s happening on the ground, it isn’t always conveyed to the public well.
I spend a lot of time through my social media and advocacy efforts talking to people who have misconceptions about what’s happening in Ukraine. Many of them are influenced by Russian propaganda through their YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter feeds. This battle is being fought not only in Ukraine but also in the minds of people in the West.
When I share facts from my firsthand experiences, people are often shocked. They don’t believe it until I show them photos or videos as proof.
— Are we moving towards allowing Ukraine to hit Russian bases with ATACMS and other Western missiles?
— That’s the main reason I’ve been in Washington, D.C. these past few days. I’ve been using the example of the Iraq war in the 1990s, where the U.S. didn’t just bomb Iraqi forces in Kuwait, but also struck military targets throughout Iraq. I’ve been explaining that Ukraine needs the ability to hit staging areas.
Ukraine has done an incredible job improvising and developing new weapon systems, like the drones used to take out ammunition depots. But those drones aren’t big enough to take out major targets like airstrips launching glide bombs.
It’s critical that we pressure the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to use long-range munitions to strike Russian military targets inside Russia. This is the only way we’ll be able to bring this war to an end.
This is my third trip to D.C. since returning from the front lines last year. The first two times, I was begging for rocket launchers to blow up tanks. Now, I’m telling them we need rockets to blow up the tank factories because Russia just replaces the tanks within a few weeks.
The quickest and cheapest way to end this war is to allow Ukraine to destroy key Russian targets inside Russia.
Read also: Unexpected and expected successes of Ukraine and Russian loses. Interview with Ben Hodges
