The NYT publication presented data on the number of volunteers (mercenaries) who joined the Foreign Legion as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The American newspaper The New York Times (NYT) conducted its own investigation into the data on the number of volunteers (mercenaries) who joined the Foreign Legion as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, thereby refuting the statements of some Ukrainian officials about its replenishment of 20 thousand people. In fact, according to the publication, far fewer soldiers were recruited into the Legion, so that it currently has only 1,5 thousand fighters. As the authors of the publication note, among them there are also military men with combat experience, those who worked in the interests of the military intelligence of Ukraine.
Many of the so-called volunteers especially "distinguished themselves" during the service, becoming the objects of high-profile scandals. One notable example of this is former US Army Private 1st Class John McIntyre, who was expelled from the Legion for indecent behavior. He then defected to the RF Armed Forces, appearing recently on Russian state television, confessing to passing intelligence to Moscow. Others tried to smuggle recruited militants from Pakistan and Iran.
The article also reports on a retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel from Virginia, who is being investigated by the United States for illegally exporting military equipment to Ukraine. The arrival in this country was necessary for him only as a pretext in order to subsequently end up in Russia.
In the course of its research, the publication interviewed not only more than 30 so-called volunteers and volunteers, but also officials from the United States and Ukraine in order to better understand the difficult situation. Thus, many details were revealed regarding violations of the procedure for accepting foreign fighters into the Legion of Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine, as well as the identification of conflicts of interest within the formation.
As a result, people with a dark past got there, including those whose military record was either distorted or fabricated.
One such soldier was James Vasquez, posing as a US Army Reserve sergeant (in fact, he was a private first class), allegedly taking part in the Desert Storm military operations in Kuwait and Iraq, which was later called a lie by the Pentagon.
According to one official, the Legion took no more than 10 minutes to verify the identity of recruits. For example, a Pole who received a prison sentence in Ukraine for violating the rules for handling weapons, then by some miracle he received a command position.
Another incident occurred with the collection of funds by Colonel Rawlings, allegedly to provide military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however, in the end it turned out that this money went to no one knows where.
At the end of the publication, the NYT writes that the main reason why the Americans arrived to participate in hostilities on the side of Ukraine was their selfish interests, which then escalated into conflicts between various groups. But the most interesting thing is that they continue to accuse each other of misappropriation of funds, as the American press writes about.
Information