Editor’s note: In accordance with the security protocols of the Ukrainian military, soldiers featured in this story are identified by first names and callsigns only.
American volunteer soldiers fighting in Ukraine say that they feel “betrayed” by their own country after the U.S. halted military aid and stopped sharing intelligence with Kyiv in early March.
“(U.S. President Donald Trump) betrayed every one of us,” a U.S. army veteran, who goes by the callsign Goldfish, told the Kyiv Independent.
A few days after the heated Oval Office clash during President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington on Feb. 28, Trump froze the delivery of all U.S. military aid to Ukraine, worth billions, in a move to push Kyiv into peace talks with Russia. CIA Director John Ratcliffe confirmed on March 5 that the U.S. has also halted intelligence sharing with Ukraine, which could affect Ukraine’s ability to identify Russian targets, as well as to defend itself from missile strikes.
The American soldiers who spoke to the Kyiv Independent said they were “horrified” by their country’s recent decisions and the ensuing consequences on the ground in Ukraine.
With many of them fighting in Ukraine since 2022, they say watching their country take a major U-turn in Ukraine policy and soften toward Russia has been hurtful and deeply offensive, especially after losing comrades one after another to the war, including many Americans.
“Never have I ever thought that I would be listening to any U.S. public figure — let alone the president — openly declare support for an aggressor,” Goldfish, a 33-year-old Alaskan currently serving with the 25th Airborne Brigade, said.
“If we stand here now on the side of the oppressor, literally telling Ukraine, either submit or cease to exist, that's not peace – that’s subjugation.”
While the exact number of U.S. volunteer soldiers fighting in various units in Ukraine is unknown to the public, at least 50, including about 40 U.S. military veterans, were killed in action as of February 2024, according to the American defense online publication Task & Purpose. A 2025 CNN investigation revealed that more than 20 are missing in action on the front line.
Understanding the significance of U.S. military aid and the immense sacrifice that Ukraine has already made to defend its country, some American fighters hoped that Trump wouldn’t abandon Ukraine like that, soldier Levi Perez, 36, said.
“Deep down in our very souls, we knew it was coming,” Perez, an Alaskan who goes by his callsign Joker, told the Kyiv Independent.
"Our reputation for the foreseeable future is pretty much gone,” he said, noting that other Western countries are losing trust in the U.S. and may turn away from further political and economic ties.
Perez and a few other American soldiers in Ukraine are convinced that Trump and his team’s hasty moves are making the possibility of World War III inevitable, especially with China likely eyeing the moment to invade another sovereign nation.
“We are beyond the point of control (where we can avoid World War III) because Russia is not going to retreat completely, they won't give back the stolen territory, and Ukraine won't let them keep the territory,” Perez said, referring to the roughly 20% of the Ukrainian land that Russia occupies.
Kollen Post
A surge in the Ukrainian troop losses is expected with the U.S. military aid freeze and the intelligence sharing halt, the American soldiers say.
A former police officer from a southern city in the U.S. currently serving in the Ukrainian military says that he’s most worried about the bans’ potential cost especially on the civilian lives.
“The civilians are going to suffer exponentially, almost more, because now with the lack of intelligence, we don't have as much information about rocket and drone strikes coming from Russian territory,” the police officer-turned-soldier, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to his unit’s protocols, told the Kyiv Independent.
“I accepted the fact that I just may not have a country to go back to because I’m not going to go back and live under a fascist regime.”
The most terrifying part is seeing how the U.S.’ next steps will impact Ukraine and its people, because “Ukrainian people are incredible,” according to a fellow American soldier, who goes by the callsign Gimli.
“The nightmare that keeps me up the most is whether my country will ever recover,” Gimli, a 33-year-old former U.S. army serviceman from Washington, told the Kyiv Independent. “Or if Trump and the Kremlin have completely crippled the future of my country.”
Gimli and other American soldiers said they had a completely different vision of their country — a democratic nation they believed had always tried to do the right thing despite setbacks and to help the world as “defenders of freedom.” Now, they say they feel humiliated.
“I accepted the fact that I just may not have a country to go back to because I’m not going to go back and live under a fascist regime,” he said, adding that he hopes that “the Ukrainians can forgive my people someday.”
The American soldiers interviewed said their hopes were now hanging on Europe to step up its support for Ukraine in what could be its darkest months to come.
Goldfish, who received a near fatal injury in embattled Donetsk Oblast in the summer of 2023, said that “Europe is the sleeping tiger in this war.”
“I always thought it would be Russia that would just poke too far towards Europe or make too many threats. But it wasn't,” Goldfish said.
“It was America that poked the tiger and woke it up.”
Note from the author:
Thanks for reading the story. The turbulent days aren't over, but there is at least some positivity to appreciate – such as the bravery of the American and international soldiers who dropped everything to come help defend Ukraine. Please consider becoming a part of the Kyiv Independent community. Thank you.
