VIDEO
EXCLUSIVE
The people of Ukraine are ready to lead the free world, says Kyiv Post guest Andy Bain. When the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began Bain relaunched his Ukrainian Freedom Fund operations to support the Ukrainian army. In a month and a half, they fundraised around a million dollars.
“Part of Ukraine’s strength is the number of volunteers it has,” says Bain.
As someone who served in Iraq and retired as a Colonel from the US Marine Corps Reserve, Bain was not too scared of war and did not leave Kyiv for long.
He says the Russian approach to take Kyiv was poor and resembled something out of Hollywood, while Ukraine, on the other hand, has developed huge discipline. Many men he knew went to the frontline even without military experience; women too started volunteering. Russia’s war strategy relies heavily on disinformation, Bain says. He is sure that there will be no real peace until three things happen.
“These are: Putin is gone, Russian state security is dismantled, and Russia is denuclearized. If any of these three elements remain, you will have a neighbor who might sign any ceasefire but will continue to act as the mafia-state that they are.”
Listen to more from Andy Bain, a US military specialist who has been involved with Ukrainians for 30 years.
