27 Jan, 2022 13:47
'Pushing their brand on the backs of Ukrainians': Who are the armed Americans operating in the Donbass trenches?
War-hungry armed Americans in combat clothing are glamorizing the conflict
© YouTube / Forward Observations
Staccato bursts of gunfire. Silence, darkness, beeping, flash, explosion. Dramatic music. Indistinct yelling. Volleys of artillery in the shadows. Jet fumes. Special forces operating in the dead of night. All put on display in the social media accounts of Forward Observations Group (FOG), which appear to be an uncontrollable oasis of military porn.
“I’m beginning to think you aren’t in Paris?” read a screenshot of a text message the Group shared recently via Instagram stories, where they also happen to be broadcasting their current journey throughout eastern Ukraine.
© Instagram / @forwardobservations
The conflict, often described as ‘frozen’, between government forces and separatists in the region, known as the Donbass, flared up in 2014, after violent street protests led to the Ukrainian government being overthrown. Kiev sent troops to parts of the Russian-speaking Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which refused to recognize the new regime. The conflict had stalled by March 2015; however, sporadic fighting there has been occurring ever since.
In recent months, Western leaders have been speculating that Moscow, which has been accused of controlling the separatists, is planning an all-out offensive against its neighbor. The allegations are based on the alleged buildup of Russian troops close to the border. The Kremlin has repeatedly denied the accusations.
The US and UK began delivering ‘lethal aid’ to Ukraine last week in an effort to thwart supposed Russian aggression. Almost 100 tons of
“lethal aid,” including ammunition intended for “the front line defenders of Ukraine,” were delivered on January 22, the US Embassy in Kiev said.
Given the circumstances, a string of photos from Donbass showing the group of Americans in combat gear holding firearms could not have gone unnoticed. Forward Observations, which apparently consists mostly of former American servicemen, came into the spotlight after Russian military-related social media communities started discussing their e-bravado over being in the conflict zone.
Men with stars and stripes shared pictures of themselves, faces blurred, as they arrived in Severodonetsk. This is where the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces is deployed. It apparently includes ex-fighters from the currently nonexistent infamous volunteer Aidar Battalion, which was staffed by right-wing individuals often
as ‘neo-Nazi’ by the media.
“…the replenishment of Ukrainian trenches with American suicide bombers. But the funniest thing is, the Americans themselves are filming all this along with Ukrainian soldiers, and then they themselves are uploading it to the internet. It’s either one or the other. Either the Americans treat their presence at Ukrainian positions as a visit to the zoo, or they work for the GRU,” Joker DNR Telegram channel, which is referred to as a ‘Ukrainian military insider’ by the media,
.
Others were quick to
the soldiers ‘
mercenaries’. The media also picked up on the claims, with the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, commenting on the matter by saying that Western ‘
mercenaries’ are ‘
present’ in the war-torn Donbass region, although the intelligence is very ‘
cautious’ and nothing has been
‘
official’.
However, sharing location data up to exact geo coordinates for everyone to see might be a little too out of character for private military contractors.
© Instagram / @forwardobservations
