US fighters are increasingly dying in Ukraine-return transportation of the corpses difficult

US fighters are increasingly dying in Ukraine-return transportation of the corpses difficult

In Ukraine, more than 20 Americans are reported missing who are fighting at the front. According to an examination by CNN, the number of fallen has increased in the past six months, since foreigners urgently need gaps in the country's lines of defense. The loss of at least five American volunteers who had chosen the Ukrainian military service could not be recovered from the battlefield after their death; Two of them were only brought back after lengthy negotiations from Russian and transferred to Ukraine.

The role of American fighters

The urgent reports of their surviving comrades and the increasing losses illustrate the often unknown but important role of American fighters on the front in a war that former President Donald Trump called "Ridiculous" and which he stimulated for diplomatic termination.

The emotional stories of relatives

The relatives of the missing Americans have told CNN of the cruel uncertainty and pain not to be able to bury their sons. Laws prevent them from officially declaring dead, and Russian Internet trolls are bothering them online. The intensity of the struggles along the eastern front lines of Ukraine means that the body of soldiers on both sides can often not be recovered and the battlefield remains.

a fatal incident

impressions from the use

one of the survivors who calls himself 'Redneck', described the missionary mission in which they were quickly encased by Russian fire. "We were in a trench, about 500 meters from our destination when the Russian drones started to get the trees down," he recalled in an interview with CNN.

The challenges of the front line

the probability of survival of foreign volunteers depends on their experience and the tasks assigned to them. Some officers treat foreigners and Ukrainians the same as others act lightly. "I owe the losses in my brigade to a bad officer," said Redneck. "It was meat for the meat grinder, and he just sent everyone he could get."

emotional returns

The return of fallen is an emotional and tedious process. Former US Marine Corey Nawrocki (41) died in the fight in the Russian-occupied Bryansk region in October. His body was returned to Ukraine after complicated negotiations, together with the body of another missing American.

The connection to home

Nawrocki's mother, Sandy, spoke of a “whirlwind of emotions” after her son's return transport. "It is now a load from my shoulders, because I no longer have to worry about what you have done to him." She describes her son as a remarkable marine veteran who acted out of a deep humanity after the situation in Ukraine. Literally she said: "Innocent People Getting Killed, Babies Being Slaughtered," and that it made him very affected.

foreign fighters and their fates

Lauren Guillaume, an American who lives in Kiev and works with the non -profit organization RT Weatherman Foundation, helps foreign families to find their missing relatives. Identification takes place both through visual methods and through DNA tests. The identification of the fallen is particularly complicated when the remains are brought back from Russia.

the uncertain death customs

The growing number of dead and missing is partly explained by the fact that foreign fighters are sent to more dangerous missions in which their military skills are needed. Guillaume says: "We have found that foreign fighters fill the gaps in extremely difficult, risky missions. Her life and her victim are not for nothing."