Americans fighting in Ukraine battle against gridlock in DC

For American volunteers fighting in Ukraine, the partisan roadblocks delaying $60 billion in assistance can mean the difference between life and death.

These fighters are U.S.-trained veterans of American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, who felt compelled to travel to Ukraine and join the fight they view as between good and evil. This week, they brought that message to Washington.

“We’re trying to convey a sense of urgency, that they need the help now,” said Gino, an American volunteer in the Ukrainian military, who asked to use his call sign.

A U.S. Army veteran, Gino is serving with Ukraine’s military intelligence unit, the GUR, and he described weapons and equipment shortages, along with low Ukrainian morale on the front line, nearly two years into a punishing defensive war against Russia. 

He spoke to The Hill with two other former U.S. soldiers serving in Ukraine and families of American volunteers killed fighting against Russia.

They came to Washington at the request of The Weatherman Foundation, an American nonprofit working in Ukraine to deliver humanitarian assistance, assist Americans fighting there, and even help repatriate the bodies of those killed in action. 

The trip to Washington is not easy for the fighters and the bereaved families. The schedule of lawmaker meetings and recounting the lives and deaths of their loved ones takes a physical and emotional toll. 

But they said it’s worth it if they can help pass President Biden’s $60 billion assistance package for Ukraine, despite GOP obstruction over demands to change U.S. immigration policy. 

“I’ll come back, I’ll kick in doors,” said Karla Webber, a mother of an American veteran killed in Ukraine, about pushing for continued support. 

Her son, Andrew, a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, was killed in July while fighting in Ukraine’s eastern provinces. 

“I plan to carry on Andrew’s work the best that I can,” she said. “I need to do what I think he would do, and that is try to influence people to take this war seriously, and recognize the big picture.” 

She framed resistance to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion as the battle for freedom against aggression and tyranny. 

“I would ask our leaders on the Hill here to put aside everything they think they want and do what’s right even if there’s nothing in it for them.”

Much of Biden’s funding request is directed to be spent on weapons production in the U.S., to backfill American stockpiles drawn down for Ukraine, and create a flow of more weapons that can be used for Ukraine. Biden’s allies and Kyiv’s supporters say this manufacturing would also benefit American industry and the U.S. economy. 

But Republican critics in Congress — and some Democrats — have spoken out against U.S. support for Ukraine and have increasingly challenged majorities in both parties who support continued assistance to Kyiv.

Still, Ukraine’s supporters are optimistic that the $60 billion will eventually be delivered, even as it’s been held up for months amid Republican demands for a massive overhaul to immigration policy, amid surging arrivals at the southern border. 

For the Americans fighting with Ukrainians, U.S. supplies can mean the difference between life and death. 

P., a veteran of America’s war in Afghanistan and a former National Guardsman, said he’s alive because of the U.S. delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine over the summer amid dire ammunition shortages — a highly controversial decision because the bombs can cause widespread, indiscriminate damage and death. 

“I’m only here because cluster munitions helped hold off Russians from wiping out my extraction point,” he told The Hill.

“I don’t know a lot of the information that gets stateside, but a lot of these things are pushing the Russians back, holding them back, they need to continue,” he said referring to American supplies of long-range missiles and air defense systems.

Ukraine’s army has been praised for pushing back against a much more powerful and nuclear-armed foe. But Russia still controls about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory nearly two years into its full-scale invasion, including its nearly 10-year occupation of the Crimean peninsula and the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.

War monitors say the battle has largely reached a stalemate, with Moscow holding the advantage, especially without robust Western assistance for Ukraine. 

Putin has maneuvered his economy around international sanctions, doubled down on domestic military production and forged partnerships with pariah nations — notably Iran and North Korea — to increase weapons deliveries, and shown little hesitancy to expand his ground army despite high rates of casualties. 

But Ukraine has retaken territory occupied by the Russians early in the war; learned complicated weapons systems on the fly; and launched attacks against Russian positions that seemed improbable given available equipment. 

“It was a shocking realization when I got there, as to how good we had it in the U.S. military,” said P., who’s a member of Ukraine’s “Chosen company,” a volunteer fighting force of foreigners from 30 countries. 

He described shortages of working rifles, little to no time for training or preparation for missions, and a heavy reliance on nonprofit organizations delivering non-lethal assistance like bulletproof vests, helmets, boots, radios, night vision and even food. 

He said the Ukrainians are employing available weapons in creative ways that the U.S. and other armies can use to better inform warfighting. 

“These are weapons we didn’t lean on that much in conflicts in the past and watching them being implemented in this is a major benefit to America,” P. said. “And that being said, doing what we can to own the air with the drones, and different things like that, there’s a huge opportunity for America to learn, in that regard.”

The U.S., as part of a coalition of more than 40 nations supporting Ukraine, is viewed as a crucial supplier of heavy weapons and air defense systems, which are critical in defending against Russia’s aerial bombardments of civilian infrastructure and on front-line troops.

Jumbo, a former Marine who is in recovery from being injured in a July mortar and grenade attack, said the biggest challenge on the frontline for Ukraine’s troops is countering all manner of drones. 

“A big piece of equipment that we could use is anything electronic warfare, counter-unmanned aerial drone devices that can knock the drones out of the sky,” he said. 

“The operation I got hurt on, when I looked up in the sky, there were just drones everywhere, they were all over the place.” 

While lawmakers in Washington stall on passing more aid for Ukraine, non-profit organizations and small donors are looking to fill the gaps.

Willow Andrews is one of many parents who have made the ultimate sacrifice for Ukraine’s freedom. Her 26-year-old son Cooper, a former Marine, was killed fighting in Ukraine in April 2023. 

Still, she takes a portion of her disability check every month to help support donations — socks, funding for drones, night vision, ready-to-eat meals for soldiers, medical supplies, and shipping costs.

“When I hear on the news that the border is connected to funding for Ukraine, it’s really disturbing, because then I hear on the news we don’t want to do anything for the border because we don’t want to give credit to Biden, which basically, I’m hearing from our government, forget Ukraine,” she said. 

Willow said from an early age, her son was always looking for different ways to help people — an Eagle Scout and community organizer who spent his free time volunteering with American veterans. 

“Maybe if I raised my kid to not care about people, and made him care more about what brand of sneakers he was wearing, Cooper would still be here. But I don’t think I would like that Cooper,” she said.

“Caring about people, caring about democracy — and no love for Putin — was why Cooper said he should go. And he said, ‘Mom if I don’t do it, who will? You taught me to fight for things I believe in.’”

–Updated at 8:14 a.m.