May 9 parade in Moscow, Russian plans at the front – interview with a sniper from the USA

Main points

  • Russia violated the “Easter truce” about a thousand times, trying to regroup for further attacks.
  • The Ukrainian military is successfully repelling attacks thanks to strong defense and cooperation with Western allies.
  • 1 The occupiers helped the Ukrainian Armed Forces capture their own people
  • 2 What was striking at the front?
  • 3 What is Russia planning for May 9?
  • 4 “Every day Russia becomes weaker”
  • 5 How much does the EU spend on purchasing Russian energy resources?
  • 6 What are the consequences of daily strikes on Russia?
  • 7 What will become a real guarantee of security for Ukraine?
  • 1 The occupiers helped the Ukrainian Armed Forces capture their own people
  • 2 What was striking at the front?
  • 3 What is Russia planning for May 9?
  • 4 “Every day Russia becomes weaker”
  • 5 How much does the EU spend on purchasing Russian energy resources?
  • 6 What are the consequences of daily strikes on Russia?
  • 7 What will become a real guarantee of security for Ukraine?

The occupiers are trying to advance on the front, but are encountering effective resistance from the Ukrainian Defense Forces. Russia has violated the so-called “Easter truce” that it itself declared about a thousand times. The Kremlin still believes that if they regroup, they will be able to prepare for attacks and recapture some positions.

That is why the Russians will put pressure on their military to achieve success by May 9. Former US Marine sniper and International Legion volunteer Matthew Sampson said this in an interview with Channel 24. He also predicted what Russia might do to achieve this success, read more in the article.

You just returned from Zaporizhzhia region, where you spoke with Ukrainian military personnel. The media reports that Russia has stepped up attacks in southern Ukraine. What is the current situation there?

The Russians are trying to advance further, but they are encountering effective Ukrainian defenses. There are not only drones, but also ground positions and fortifications. If any of the Russians manage to break through, the Ukrainian military is extremely effective in detecting them. Both with the help of drones and by intercepting radio communications. Many Russians have been captured in this way.

Some of my comrades spent many days with Russian prisoners of war in the same trenches until they were evacuated. There the Russians begin to realize that we are not who they thought we were. They are immediately surprised that they are treated normally in captivity. We are trying to save their lives, and the Russians are trying to kill us. There is a certain irony in this.

They see with their own eyes that they have been fooled all their lives, and this gives me hope. When they realize that no one will kill them, they begin to help the Ukrainians. They provide intelligence information that will be useful both now and in the coming weeks. For example, they told us that in three hours two more Russians will come here and we can try to take them prisoner. This helps to disrupt the Russian offensive.

What were you doing on the front lines this time?

I have spoken to commanders I trust on the battlefield. I met many of them back in June 2022. I know they will give me a straight answer. They know I will use this information next week when I meet with members of Congress. When an American can speak to other American legislators and voters, it is an extremely powerful tool that brings benefits. So they are willing to cooperate.

Full interview with a sniper from the USA: watch the video

The military gave me a lot of information, including about some equipment. For example, about mine trawlers that effectively destroyed even 80-100 mines and did not need repair. But this is only part of what I learned.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine has conducted an offensive operation for the first time using only drones. How would you assess the progress of the Ukrainian army in 4 years?

I am extremely interested in observing the interaction of Ukraine with Western allies, who have completely different experiences. For example, I fought in the Middle East. Some of our experience can be applied at the front, and some – not at all. They learn from us. We also learn from them. And this gives a very good result. This was the case during World War II, when the allies interacted with each other.

Russia is currently getting help from North Korea, Iran, and China, but those relationships are definitely not as close as ours. That suggests that we will eventually win. The longer this goes on, the clearer it becomes that we will win, not the Russians.

You have friends among the Ukrainian military. Tell us, what is the current motivation of the Ukrainian defenders? Do you feel this determination and faith among those people who have been at war for more than 4 years?

Of course. I am very inspired by the stories of Ukrainian fighters. Some, even despite their injuries, can hold their positions for several weeks. One guy with injuries was in a position for 44 days. Then they were able to evacuate him and take him to the hospital. You have to wait for bad weather, usually fog. Then both Ukrainians and Russians begin to actively move.

Yesterday I met a foreigner. I think he was an Australian. He spent about 65-70 days in the position, providing first aid. It was a small room. Such people are very inspiring. They are ready to continue to go to the position, understanding that it may be for several weeks again. As far as I am concerned, this is a signal to the Western allies that no one is ready to stop the fight.

Russia violated the “Easter Truce” about a thousand times. But why did they declare this “pause” in the first place? Did Russia want to regroup, prepare for new attacks, and recapture some positions?

Russia believes that this is possible. However, the Ukrainian military is well aware of the actions of the occupiers. Therefore, they are well prepared for the moment when fighting resumes.

My friend recently captured a Russian. He even knew his call sign. That is, he didn't just capture some occupier, but he already knew his name and call sign. This is just one example of how much stronger the Ukrainians are in this war. Russia is bringing in more personnel, but the Ukrainians have much better training and intelligence.

I know that intelligence gathering is also the result of Ukraine's strong partnership with many Western allies, who help gather information that will save lives not only of civilians but also of military personnel.

Are the Russians going to make any progress by May 9? Perhaps Russia will carry out drone attacks on Ukrainian cities again?

Of course, this is an important day for Russians. The USSR lost over 25 million lives (in World War II, – Channel 24). Approximately 14 million are losses among Ukrainians. 10 million of them were killed, and another 4 million were displaced in one way or another. Some simply left the Ukrainian SSR.

Ukraine has been fighting for freedom, independence, and simply the right to exist for much longer than 12 years. May 9 is a significant day for both countries, but for different reasons.

The Russians, I think, will put pressure on their military to achieve some success by May 9. But let's get back to my visit. It was extremely interesting to see the Ukrainian defense. The Russians rarely manage to achieve even small successes, although they throw a lot of resources. The Ukrainian military is ready for this.

After all, there could be drone attacks on Ukrainian cities on May 9. As for the front line, I don't think the Russians will be able to achieve anything in the next month.

Interesting! At the same time, rumors are spreading in Russia about the cancellation of military parades until May 9 due to the missile threat from Ukraine. Although there is no official confirmation yet.

So they won't be able to achieve something even in Druzhkivka, Pokrovsk, and Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region? The president said that Russia wants to occupy these cities virtually by the end of April. Is that possible?

I don't think it's possible. I spent a lot of time in some of these cities a few years ago. And I know for sure that these areas were well fortified and protected. I assume that the defenses have only been strengthened there by now, so I don't think Russia will be able to achieve anything there even with the superiority in personnel. The defenses there are too strong. I saw what was there in 2023-2024. Nobody will be able to break through such fortifications easily.

According to some media reports, there are warnings coming from European capitals that Washington may put pressure not on Moscow, but on Kyiv, to achieve peace in Ukraine. What would you say to people, especially in the West, who believe that Ukraine should actually give up territory and make other concessions?

We have seen this several times in the last year, especially under the current administration. The public American position is that the US is pushing for a peace deal and is saying that it is willing to be flexible and negotiate on some terms. Ukraine is also saying the same thing publicly, probably under significant pressure from the West. And then, when any kind of conversation starts with Moscow, everything falls apart.

This is where I see the lack of flexibility. Neither Ukraine nor the West have conditions that would be acceptable to Moscow. Russia, as far as I understand, wants all of Ukraine. So if a peace agreement from the US, Ukraine or the EU is anything different from this, Moscow will find a reason to say it is not interested. This could really put pressure on Ukraine from the West to be more flexible. I don’t think it matters, because Russia is not flexible at all. And every day Russia becomes weaker than it was yesterday.

This, unfortunately, affects everyone on the front lines and everyone who lives here in Ukraine. Especially considering that last winter, which Ukrainians had to endure with extreme temperatures and sometimes without heating for a month or two. People sometimes live in tents right inside their apartments and risk dying from the cold, because Russia has used the weather as a weapon. Russia, it must be admitted, is quite good at dealing with such things.

As for peace talks, Russia is not ready to make any changes. So this only proves that you cannot negotiate with a terrorist state. They do not want to do it. They are not interested in it. The Russians are not interested in the humanitarian side of any negotiations. They just want to win at any cost, even if it costs their lives or the lives of others. It does not matter much to them, and it is very different from Ukrainian and Western history.

Will this be your main message to people in Washington upon your return to the US?

This is going to be one of several messages that I'm going to convey. Just to show the difference. One side is willing to be reasonable, to negotiate on some issues and discuss how to end this while trying to save lives, and the other side doesn't care. The other side wants to kill everyone. And Putin himself has said this publicly many times: that he just wants to kill everyone.

As an American, how do you assess the decision to lift sanctions on Russia, even temporarily? It has been a month since the beginning of the easing of sanctions restrictions. According to Reuters, it may be extended. We know in Ukraine that as long as Russia sells its oil, it will have more money to kill Ukrainians.

That's right. There's a high probability that this is a short-term move for a long-term goal that will ultimately benefit the Western side of this conflict. I think one of the things that this really shows is that even with fewer sanctions, with their easing, countries can buy energy resources (coal, oil, and gas) from Russia, and they can deal with a more reliable partner, like the United States. Of course, there are other countries. But this is something that the United States has been quite open about, especially in the last few years.

The United States wants to control the energy market more. That's really an advantage for the Western world, because we're generally more stable than Russia. Russia historically hasn't had much of an idea of ​​how people can cooperate so that everyone can coexist peacefully throughout their lives. That's not what it's known for. That's something that's definitely more common in Western history than in Russia.

So I think this is just a good example of the fact that sanctions or not, all these other countries, even EU countries, some of which are still transferring huge amounts of money to Russia, are actually financing it. As far as I understand, today the European Union is financing this war in Ukraine for Russia by about 10% thanks to the energy resources that it continues to buy from the aggressor countries, even though it has been 12 years.

By the way, the US extended its permission to purchase Russian oil until May 16, despite loud promises not to do so.

This really shows those countries that are still actively doing business with Russia since the war began 12 years ago that there are other options that are much smarter. By the way, even the Netherlands is the largest buyer of American oil in the world. And the Netherlands is much closer to Russia. I am sure it is much easier for them to buy all this from her. But they have long understood that the US is a better partner for business than Russia.

So I think the history of these sanctions will show that there is a very clear difference between the world's energy suppliers. And one of them will be a much better choice, and that will be the United States.

I think Ukraine has found a way to stop the usual course of business with Russia and is now attacking Russian refineries, especially in the Leningrad region, which is located a thousand kilometers from the Ukrainian border. These operations are quite effective, we see the lack of work of Russian air defense. How do you assess this change in strategy? Because a year ago we had symbolic deep strikes, and now they are happening almost every day.

I remember when I was here last time, one of the topics of conversation was Tomahawk missiles. In the United States, we really appreciate them and know how to use them well. They were recently used in Iran – they are an extremely effective weapon. Last year, there was talk that Ukraine would receive several Tomahawks to attack Russia. The American and Russian presidents talked about this on the phone.

Should the US send Tomahawks to Ukraine to attack Russia? Everything you've described shows that while these missiles are cool, they're unnecessary. I was here last year shortly after Operation Spiderweb, a year and a half of personal planning by Ukrainian intelligence to deliver large numbers of relatively cheap drones deep into Russia and destroy a significant portion of the bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

And this is something that Russia did not expect at all. It was relatively inexpensive for the Ukrainian side. It took a year and a half. The fact that Ukraine kept it a secret all this time, that Russia knew nothing about it, and that the operation was incredibly successful is just one of many examples of deep drone strikes.

I know that Ukraine has access to weapons like Storm Shadow from the EU. This is also a long-range weapon. Such deep strikes are of great interest to Western partners, because even without American systems like Tomahawk, Ukraine is still capable of delivering such strikes deep into its territory.

I assume this is being done with significant support from most Western countries, particularly the United States. It is interesting to see non-American weapons destroying facilities in Russia. During my time with all the members of Congress in Washington, everyone I spoke to was happy to see something blow up in Russia, knowing that their troops could just go home and it could all be over. Obviously, that is not going to happen anytime soon.

The American side is delighted when it sees these deep strikes, and they are usually delivered by much cheaper means than if we did it with our weapons systems, which are usually many times more expensive.

According to the Ukrainian president, some partners have asked to stop the attacks on Russian oil refineries, possibly because of the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. But why do you think this topic might be politically sensitive?

Russia still believes it is an incredible world power, when we see that it is not. It was the same when Chernobyl exploded in the 1980s. One of Gorbachev's first public statements was: “In the Soviet Union, a catastrophe is impossible.” So this type of thinking, a complete disregard for reality, persists to this day.

When someone thinks they are more powerful than they really are, things can quickly spiral out of control. We saw this in Germany during World War II. The Germans thought they were stronger than they really were, and used that to their advantage. And their opponents thought the German army was powerful, which also led them to surrender much more quickly and put up less resistance. In the end, the Germans lost.

But at these critical moments, they believed their propaganda so much that they used it to their advantage. I think that is why such deep strikes sometimes become a sensitive topic. However, I like that other partners, whether individuals or organizations, are having such conversations with Ukraine, because it is capable of carrying out such deep strikes. In 2022, this did not happen.

Pay attention! President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that in March alone, Russia suffered losses of at least $2.3 billion due to Ukrainian attacks on oil infrastructure.

The fact that after a few years we have reached a point where Ukrainians are being told, “Listen, can you stop doing this?” shows what tremendous progress Ukraine has made, both with its Western partners and on its own. Personally, I am very happy to see that the Ukrainian army has made such progress in such a short time, and that there are practically no places in Russia that are protected from Ukrainian retaliation.

Although in reality, Ukraine is trying to survive and would be very happy if Russia would go home so that we could once again become neighbors who, let's say, dislike each other.

There are some statements and thoughts that the United States could potentially withdraw from NATO. This is not the first time that such discussions have appeared in the media. Would you support such a move? How serious are these debates in Washington and the United States in general?

No, I would not support the US withdrawal from NATO. In addition, I see this as a strong incentive for all NATO countries to start taking their armed forces and defense seriously. There should not be complete dependence on another country, be it the United States or anyone else. I know that the current American administration talked a lot about this during its first term in office from 2016 to 2020, when it was said that all NATO countries are not spending the amount of money they have committed to.

As an American, as a man, as a Marine, I will say this: if we have a deal and then someone just lies, the question immediately arises for me, can I trust them with anything? If I can't trust them, should I help them in their time of need? After all, they lied to me. That's the problem.

But I think it also shows that when so many countries publicly demonstrate that they are not serious about their armed forces and their own defense, then people like Putin will try to take advantage of that. Putin has made it clear that the next target after Ukraine will be Poland . He has said this many times, but you and I know that he will never finish with Ukraine, because he will not win there.

But he made it clear that he would definitely go to NATO countries. So if they are not ready for this today, as they should have been ready a decade ago, then they are the ones who need to make these changes as soon as possible. Many of them have already started, but it took Russia's invasion of Ukraine to do that. It took pressure from the US to get these countries to start spending at least the minimum they agreed on, just to avoid putting themselves in a vulnerable position that an aggressor could exploit, even if they lost.

The last thing I would like to see is a Russian invasion of Poland, because in the process, a huge number of Poles and, most likely, a bunch of foreigners will die, just like here in Ukraine. One way to prevent this is to make the Polish army look powerful, so that Russia does not have even the slightest desire to threaten this country.

And we are now gradually moving towards this in Ukraine. Personally, as a person from the West, I am very pleased to see this. This is a great opportunity to create a larger Ukrainian-American partnership in the issue of how we can strengthen our armed forces on an equal footing. In particular, the training that we conduct in the West is a little different from the local one, but here you get such experience that you cannot find anywhere else.

The US is not going to send a large number of its troops to the front lines to sort this out, so we have to rely on the Ukrainian partnership. And that is laying a fantastic foundation for what will be the best and most realistic security guarantee for Ukraine in the future.

Not a piece of paper like the Budapest Memorandum, not the EU, not even NATO, but an understanding by any aggressors that the local army will fight to the death, that it does so extremely effectively, and that if they come here, they will never win. I am pleased to see all these improvements, as well as those areas in which we can continue to improve in the future.

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