(NewsNation) — At the Maidan Square Memorial in Kyiv, Ukraine, a flag is placed for each soldier who has been killed in this war. That includes over 100 American flags.
It’s estimated at least 118 Americans have died fighting in Ukraine after volunteering for the war effort. This comes after Russia attacked Ukraine over four years ago.
Bryan Pickens is a U.S. military veteran who served 13 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then, as a Green Beret, he was assigned to help train Ukrainian forces before Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
When he became a veteran, he returned, eager to help Ukraine fight for its independence.
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“The entire population believes in freedom, believes in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to live like we do in America,” Pickens said.
He says, “For all my time here [Ukrainians] have very much idolized the West and idolized America in this massive way, as the kind of example of what they want to, and an aspiration of what they want to live like.”
Uliana Boichuk, an independent reporter in the U.S. who works with American families who lost loved ones in Ukraine, says the main reason so many Americans have been willing to fight and die for another country’s sovereignty is that they believe in Ukraine’s battle for freedom and democracy, and right now, that fight is on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Boichuk adds, “All the families said their sons and husbands were against bullies,” and they believe “Russia is a bully.”
Despite their losses, the families understand and appreciate their loved one’s choice to fight, she explains.
“This entire culture from border to border, as I was training Ukrainians and as I’ve been here now fighting, every single person I met from the youngest little girl to the oldest babushka would say to you, ‘I will die Ukrainian before I live Russian,’” Pickens said.
Ukrainian war about sovereignty and survival
For Ukrainians, the war is existential, a fight for their survival, and one with echoes of American values.
Max (full name shortened for safety) is a commander of a Ukrainian brigade and says, “Freedom and democracy are the values that I’m personally fighting for … we are fighting for things that [are] higher than just Ukrainian independence.”
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He expanded further, saying, “We believe in good and evil; we choose good. We believe in right and wrong, and we choose right. And freedom is the biggest value. … This is a very common thing with Americans. We believe in the American people.”
His colleague in the brigade, Dmytro, added, “We don’t want to be Russian; we just want to be ourselves. And this right for the auto-determination, I think this is something that America has always supported during all its existence and during every time that America has been a worldwide actor of defending democracies, protecting people’s freedom of auto-determination … this is what we are fighting for. … I would like to thank the American people for their support.”
At least 100K Ukrainian troops killed in war with Russia
The Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates the total number of Ukrainian troop deaths between 100,000 and 140,000, with another 500,000 to 600,000 wounded or missing. CSIS estimates Russia has lost at least 325,000 soldiers in the war, with almost a million more wounded or missing.
According to multiple sources, the front lines are effectively at a stalemate with both Ukraine and the Russian armies operating at the peak of their capabilities.
This week at the G7 in France, President Donald Trump met with Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy and said he spoke with Russia’s President Putin regarding the war. He hopes to help bring an end, although he noted that it has proven more difficult than anticipated.
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