Foreigners head to Ukraine to fight Russian invaders
Chief correspondent Jonathan Hunt has the latest from Lviv, Ukraine, on 'Special Report.'
I have never wanted to be so wrong in my life. On March 7, 2014, I created the Facebook group called "1,000,000 people around the world in support of Ukraine’s fight for freedom."
I created it initially to help raise awareness of the annexation of Crimea and to fight the information war against the Russia propaganda that, back then, was being accepted as truth much more than it is today. I like to think we played a small role in that.
I had hoped that once Americans understood why Ukraine was important, that we would intervene to help Ukraine get her territorial integrity restored. Unfortunately that never happened. Now the group I founded is now growing by leaps and bounds but tragically for the wrong reasons because of the all-out war in Ukraine.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
I’m a first generation Ukrainian-American. I am a lifelong New Jersy resident, father, and a student of military history, specifically World War II.
This photo was taken on May 20, 2017, at the Ukrainian Freedom March in Washington, D.C. Author Ed Skibicki is in the middle carrying the bullhorn and his daughter Audrey is in the front of the picture to the left. The group was marching the 2.7-mile distance from the World War II Memorial to the Holodomor Memorial.
My family was forced to move to Poland from Ukraine prior to World War II, and is of Lemko origin. I’ve always been extremely proud of my heritage and my people.
I founded the group after watching the shootings of the Heavenly Hundred on the Maidan on February 22, 2014 and the takeover of Belbek (the military base in Crimea) without a shot being fired.
FILE – The Independence Monument is seen over Kyiv's Maidan Square in front of a Ukrainian national flag that was displayed on the occasion of the Day of Unity, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, February 22, 2022. ( )
After a week of fighting the world has seen that the Ukrainian army is much stronger than most expected. Russian President Vladimir Putin has vastly underestimated the strength of the Ukrainian people, he is not just fighting the regular army but the entire nation.
According to the Wall Street Journal, fifteen percent of the armed forces fighting in Ukraine right now are female. Videos of true heroism are all over the place. The legendary "Ghost of Kyiv" is real and not merely a legend. President Zelenskyy has become a hero to not only his people but to the free world.
Ukrainians are fighting not only for themselves but for all of us.
The United States was part of an agreement more than 25 years ago called the Budapest Memorandum that obligates not only America, but several other nations (including Russia!) to come to the defense of Ukraine if their territorial integrity was violated. This was done in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons in 1994, the third-largest in the world at that time.
UKRAINE WILL ULTIMATELY WIN THE IRREGULAR WAR WITH RUSSIA
Now that the country is facing an existential threat what has happened?
As a Ukrainian-American I can tell you that Ukrainians don’t want troops on the ground, but airstrikes against lethal weapons that go against the Geneva Convention, including TOS-1A’s (thermobaric rocket launchers) are crucial, as well as a no-fly zone to protect against constant aerial bombardment.
TOS-1A’s are devastating weapons that cannot be defended against. They essentially are napalm rockets that basically suck oxygen out of the air and vaporize people.
Is the free world prepared to witness massive amount of civilian deaths? The Ukrainian army can try to fight this conventionally, but are dealing with a force of evil, Putin, who will destroy Ukraine if he can’t conquer or subjugate it. Civilian deaths will start to mount significantly in the coming days.
Ukrainian cities have come under heavy bombardment from Russian forces. (Oleksandra Ustinova MP)
My group is working to try to get refugees, some of whom are Americans, out of Ukraine through Poland and on to homes around the world. We are actively putting together lists of people around the world who are willing to share their homes with Ukrainian refugees. We are working with the Georgian Legion which is now in charge of vetting foreigners who want to fight for Ukraine and this includes many Americans. My group is fielding many requests from people all around the world who want to fight.
BIDEN SHOULD SPEAK DIRECTLY TO RUSSIAN PEOPLE, ASK THEM TO DENOUNCE PUTIN'S UKRAINE WAR
We are working with organizations in Washington, D.C. to conduct rallies in front of the White House and to raise money for hospitals in Ukraine which are being systematically targeted.
This photo was taken on October 24, 2015 in Odesa, Ukraine. The author is in the middle, and two members of Ukrainian army are with him. He was meeting with members of the Ukrainian military during his time in Odesa. (Courtesy Ed Skibicki)
I’m doing all of this because I believe that the war in Ukraine is the most important event for the entire world since the end of World War II. Ukraine is a big part of my heritage, but I’m an American and this fight against evil is not only right vs. wrong, but should Ukraine fall that would deal a severe blow to American interests, European interests, democracy, and freedom around the world.
I shudder to think about what would happen next in the world if this were allowed to take place, along with tens of thousands of civilian deaths, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
This photo taken on October 25, 2015, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Author Ed Skibicki met the Kharkiv 1 battalion, specifically with the commander (pictured in the middle) and a volunteer (pictured to the left). The battalion consists of 500 Ukrainian troops.
Ukraine will need a new Marshall plan to rebuild with all the damage it has already sustained. All the ill-gotten gains obtained from the Russian oligarchs should be used for this purpose, but likely that will not be enough.
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Now it looks like Belarus is on the brink of joining the fight (if Russia was so strong why do they need Belarus, why did they ask Kazakhstan for troops?).
Why are Putin’s nukes the only ones that seem to act as a deterrent? The USA had no problem fighting in Syria with the presence of Russian troops, and Syria is not part of NATO either.
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Why is the world so afraid of a man who meets with foreign leaders such as Emmanuel Macron in his office practically in a different zip code at the other end of the table?
FILE – Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu at the Kremlin, in Moscow on February 14, 2022. ((Photo by ALEXEI NIKOLSKY/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images))
Does this sounds like a brave man to you? Just like Saddam Hussein, Putin does not value anyone else’s life except his own. He is the definition of a coward. He would never launch a preemptive nuclear attack because he knows that would mean the end of him.
As a Ukrainian-American I would like to see the U.S. and NATO bomb the military forces in Belarus. They are supposedly not part of Russia, so this should definitely "put the cat amongst the pigeons."
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We are doing everything we can to save more lives before Ukraine ultimately triumphs over Russia and Putin -- which it will.
Glory to Ukraine!
Author's note: Here are two charities I personally support (they are not endorsed by Fox New Media): unitedhelpukraine.org. Facebook.com/Us.Ukrainian.Activists.
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