Stolen Valor: The U.S. Volunteers in Ukraine Who Lie, Waste and Bicker

They rushed to Ukraine by the 1000’s, lots of them People who promised to deliver army expertise, cash or provides to the battleground of a righteous struggle. Hometown newspapers hailed their dedication, and donors backed them with hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.

Now, after a yr of fight, many of those homespun teams of volunteers are combating with themselves and undermining the struggle effort. Some have wasted cash or stolen valor. Others have cloaked themselves in charity whereas additionally making an attempt to revenue off the struggle, data present.

One retired Marine lieutenant colonel from Virginia is the main focus of a U.S. federal investigation into the doubtless unlawful export of army know-how. A former Military soldier arrived in Ukraine solely to show traitor and defect to Russia. A Connecticut man who lied about his army service has posted dwell updates from the battlefield — together with his precise location — and boasted about his easy accessibility to American weaponry. A former development employee is hatching a plan to make use of faux passports to smuggle in fighters from Pakistan and Iran.

And in one of many extra curious entanglements, one of many largest volunteer teams is embroiled in an influence wrestle involving an Ohio man who falsely claimed to have been each a U.S. Marine and a LongHorn Steakhouse assistant supervisor. The dispute additionally entails a years-old incident on Australian actuality TV.

Such characters have a spot in Ukraine’s protection due to the arms-length function america has taken: The Biden administration sends weapons and cash however not skilled troops. Meaning individuals who wouldn’t be allowed anyplace close to the battlefield in a U.S.-led struggle are lively on the Ukrainian entrance — usually with unchecked entry to weapons and army tools.

Most of the volunteers who hurried to Ukraine did so selflessly and acted with heroism. Some have misplaced their lives. Foreigners have rescued civilians, aided the wounded and fought ferociously alongside Ukrainians. Others raised cash for essential provides.

However in Europe’s largest land struggle since 1945, the do-it-yourself strategy doesn’t discriminate between educated volunteers and people who lack the abilities or self-discipline to help successfully.

The New York Instances reviewed greater than 100 pages of paperwork from inside volunteer teams and interviewed greater than 30 volunteers, fighters, fund-raisers, donors and American and Ukrainian officers. Some spoke on the situation of anonymity to debate delicate data.

The interviews and analysis reveal a collection of deceptions, errors and squabbles which have hindered the volunteer drive that started after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, when President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine known as for assist. “Each pal of Ukraine who desires to affix Ukraine in defending the nation, please come over,” he mentioned. “We will provide you with weapons.”

1000’s answered the decision. Some joined army teams just like the Worldwide Legion, which Ukraine fashioned for international fighters. Others took roles in assist or fund-raising. With Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, underneath assault, there was little time for vetting arrivals. So folks with problematic pasts, together with checkered or fabricated army data, grew to become entrenched within the Legion and a constellation of different volunteer teams.

Requested about these issues, the Ukrainian army didn’t handle particular points however did say it was on guard as a result of Russian brokers usually tried to infiltrate volunteer teams. “We investigated such instances and handed them over to regulation enforcement businesses,” mentioned Andriy Cherniak, a consultant for Ukrainian army intelligence.

‘A Million Lies’

Among the finest-known People on the battlefield is James Vasquez. Days after the invasion, Mr. Vasquez, a Connecticut home-improvement contractor, introduced he was leaving for Ukraine. His native newspaper advised the story of a former U.S. Military workers sergeant who left behind his job and household and picked up a rifle and a rucksack on the entrance line.

Since then, he has posted battlefield movies on-line, at the very least as soon as broadcasting his unit’s exact location to everybody, together with the enemy. He used his story to solicit donations. “I used to be in Kuwait throughout Desert Storm, and I used to be in Iraq after 9/11,” Mr. Vasquez mentioned in a fund-raising video. He added, “This can be a entire totally different animal.”

Mr. Vasquez, actually, was by no means deployed to Kuwait, Iraq or anyplace else, a Pentagon spokeswoman mentioned. He specialised in gasoline and electrical repairs. And he left the Military Reserve not as a sergeant as he claimed, however as a personal firstclass, one of many Military’s lowest ranks.

Nonetheless, Mr. Vasquez had easy accessibility to weapons, together with American rifles. The place did they arrive from? “I’m not precisely positive,” Mr. Vasquez mentioned in a textual content message. The rifles, he added, had been “brand-new, out of the field and we have now loads.” He additionally tweeted that he mustn’t have to fret about worldwide guidelines of struggle whereas in Ukraine.

He fought alongside Da Vinci’s Wolves, a Ukrainian far-right battalion, till this week, when The Instances requested about his false army service claims. He instantly deactivated his Twitter account and mentioned he may depart Ukraine as a result of authorities found he was combating with out a required army contract.

Mr. Vasquez mentioned he had been misrepresenting his army document for many years. He acknowledged being kicked out of the Military however wouldn’t speak publicly about why. “I needed to inform 1,000,000 lies to get forward,” Mr. Vasquez mentioned in an interview. “I didn’t notice it was going to return to this.”

Public Quarrels

The Worldwide Legion, swiftly fashioned by the Ukrainian authorities, spent 10 minutes or much less checking every volunteer’s background early within the struggle, one Legion official mentioned. So a Polish fugitive who had been jailed in Ukraine for weapon violations acquired a place main troops. Troopers advised The Kyiv Impartial that he misappropriated provides, harassed girls and threatened his troopers.

Ukrainian officers initially boasted of 20,000 potential Legion volunteers, however far fewer truly enlisted. At the moment, there are round 1,500 members within the group, say folks with information of the Legion.

Some are skilled fighters working as a part of the Protection Intelligence of Ukraine.

However there have been high-profile issues. A former Military personal firstclass, John McIntyre, was ejected from the Legion for dangerous habits. Mr. McIntyre defected to Russia and just lately appeared on state-run tv, which mentioned he offered army intelligence to Moscow.

Inner paperwork present that the Legion is struggling. Recruitment has stagnated. The Washington-based Counter Extremism Venture wrote in March that the Legion and affiliated teams “proceed to characteristic people broadly seen as unfit to carry out their duties.”

Malcolm Nance, a former Navy cryptologist and MSNBC commentator, arrived in Ukraine final yr and made a plan to deliver order and self-discipline to the Legion. As a substitute, he grew to become enmeshed within the chaos.

Mr. Nance, whose TV appearances have made him some of the seen People supporting Ukraine, was an skilled army operator. He drafted a code of honor for the group and, by all accounts, donated tools.

As we speak, Mr. Nance is concerned in a messy, distracting energy wrestle. Usually, that performs out on Twitter, the place Mr. Nance taunted one former ally as “fats” and an affiliate of “a verified con artist.”

He accused a pro-Ukraine fund-raising group of fraud, offering no proof. After arguing with two Legion directors, Mr. Nance wrote a “counterintelligence” report making an attempt to get them fired. Central to that report is an accusation that one Legion official, Emese Abigail Fayk, fraudulently tried to purchase a home on an Australian actuality TV present with cash she didn’t have. He labeled her “a possible Russian spy,” providing no proof. Ms. Fayk denied the accusations and stays with the Legion.

Mr. Nance mentioned that as a member of the Legion with an intelligence background, when he developed considerations, he “felt an obligation to report this to Ukrainian counterintelligence.”

The dispute goes to the center of who could be trusted to talk for and lift cash for the Legion.

Mr. Nance has left Ukraine however continues fund-raising with a brand new group of allies. Certainly one of them, Ben Lackey, is a former Legion member. He advised his fellow volunteers that he was as soon as a Marine and wrote on LinkedIn that he had most just lately been an assistant supervisor at LongHorn Steakhouse. In actual fact, the Pentagon mentioned he had no army expertise (and he labored as a server, the steakhouse mentioned).

In an interview, Mr. Lackey mentioned that he lied about being a U.S. Marine so he might be a part of the Legion.

With Legion development stalling, Ryan Routh, a former development employee from Greensboro, N.C., is searching for recruits from amongst Afghan troopers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent a number of months in Ukraine final yr, mentioned he deliberate to maneuver them, in some instances illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He mentioned dozens had expressed curiosity.

“We are able to most likely buy some passports via Pakistan because it’s such a corrupt nation,” he mentioned in an interview from Washington.

It isn’t clear if he has succeeded, however one former Afghan soldier mentioned he had been contacted and was considering combating if it meant leaving Iran, the place he was residing illegally.

Misdirected Donations

Grady Williams, a 65-year-old retired engineer with no army expertise and a methamphetamine conviction from 2019, was a volunteer tour information at Ronald Reagan’s Santa Barbara ranch when he heard Mr. Zelensky’s plea for volunteers.

“I shot rifles since I used to be 13,” he mentioned in an interview. “I had no excuse to say, ‘Nicely, I shouldn’t go.’”

He mentioned he flew to Poland, hitchhiked to Ukraine and took a prepare to Kyiv. He ran into two People in military-looking gear. “They mentioned ‘Dude, include us,’” he mentioned.

The volunteers introduced Mr. Williams to a base close to the entrance and gave him a gun. Days later, he mentioned, he was almost blown up whereas combating alongside Ukrainian troopers from a trench close to Bucha. Inside per week, the army realized that he had not registered to battle and despatched him again to Kyiv.

From there, he took a circuitous path that resulted in elevating cash for volunteers from the Republic of Georgia. He raised about $16,000, telling donors their cash would purchase electrical bikes for fighters. However the Georgians kicked him out after he acquired right into a battle with one other volunteer. He mentioned he spent about $6,900 of the contributions on down funds for motorbikes and the remainder on his journey and different bills.

He has since linked up with a brand new group, which he mentioned promised him command of a motorbike unit if he raised sufficient cash. So he moved this month to Odesa, Ukraine, he mentioned, and expects to ship a single bike quickly.

Examples of wasted cash within the fingers of well-intentioned persons are widespread. Mriya Help, a gaggle led by an active-duty Canadian lieutenant colonel, spent round $100,000 from donors on high-tech U.S.-style night-vision gadgets. They ended up being less-effective Chinese language fashions, inner paperwork present.

“We skilled an issue with the evening imaginative and prescient,” mentioned Lubomyr Chabursky, a volunteer on Mriya Help’s management group. However he mentioned the acquisition made up solely 2 % of the group’s complete expenditures.

Earlier this yr, the Mozart Group, which two former Marines established to assist Ukraine, disbanded after one sued the opposite, alleging theft and harassment.

Absent Paper Path

Final spring, a volunteer group known as Ripley’s Heroes mentioned it spent roughly $63,000 on night-vision and thermal optics. A number of the tools was topic to American export restrictions as a result of, within the incorrect fingers, it might give enemies a battlefield benefit.

Frontline volunteers mentioned Ripley’s delivered the tools to Ukraine with out required documentation itemizing the precise consumers and recipients. Not too long ago, federal authorities started investigating the shipments, U.S. officers mentioned.

In his protection, the group’s founder, a retired U.S. Marine named Lt. Col. Hunter Ripley Rawlings IV, offered deal paperwork to The Instances. However these data present that, simply because the volunteers mentioned, Ripley’s was not disclosed to the State Division as the customer.

Ripley’s says it has raised over $1 million, a few of it due to the previous Connecticut contractor, Mr. Vasquez, who claimed to be the group’s chief technique officer and promoted Ripley’s to his on-line viewers.

Ripley’s spent round $25,000 on remote-control reconnaissance automobiles final yr, however they by no means arrived, transport data present. Colonel Rawlings mentioned Polish authorities held them up over authorized considerations.

Colonel Rawlings has mentioned that his group is awaiting American nonprofit standing. However he has not revealed his spending or proof of a nonprofit utility to The Instances or to donors who’ve requested. So it isn’t clear the place the cash goes. “I believed these guys,” mentioned Shaun Stants, who mentioned he organized a fund-raiser in October in Pittsburgh however was by no means proven the monetary data he requested for. “And so they took me for a idiot.”

Company data in Poland and the U.S. present that Colonel Rawlings additionally began a for-profit firm known as Iron Forge. In an interview, he mentioned he anticipated his charity and others to pay Iron Forge for transportation, which means donor cash could be used to finance his personal enterprise. However he mentioned no battle of curiosity existed as a result of Iron Forge would in the end ship a refund to the charities. Particulars are being labored out, he mentioned.

Within the days after The Instances approached Mr. Vasquez and others, members of the squabbling teams — Ripley’s, the Legion, the dissident Legion members and extra — escalated their feud. They accused each other of misappropriating funds and mendacity about their credentials.

After a former ally turned on Mr. Vasquez, Mr. Nance got here to his protection.

“James was NOT faux, he was troubled,” Mr. Nance mentioned on Twitter. “He did so much for Ukraine however has challenges to face.”

Najim Rahim contributed reporting from Berkeley, Calif., and Maria Varenikova and Daria Mitiuk from Kyiv, Ukraine.