Nicolas Brandon is a French fighter of the International Legion of Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After a serious injury sustained in December 2022, for nine months, doctors have been unable to provide him with proper treatment due to bureaucratic hurdles. Such negligence could cost him his leg. However, despite this, Nicolas does not lose his fighting spirit and strives to return to the front lines. The 28-year-old French fighter, who is currently in a military hospital in Lviv, shared his story and military journey with Zahid. Espreso media outlet. Dreamed of becoming a soldier since childhood Nicolas is from the city of Montauban in southern France. He is a professional soldier and served for two years in a battalion involved in demining. He also provided security in public places, as in France, military personnel assist the police in patrolling areas with large gatherings of people. Since childhood, Nicolas dreamed of military training, as his father is also a military man who fought in Chad and was injured there. Source: Yuriy Martynovych Before coming to Ukraine, Nicolas worked as a laborer for some time. However, when he saw in the news that Russia had attacked Ukraine, he decided that he needed to help the Ukrainians defend their independence. “I came here to protect the civilian population and defend freedom. When I heard that foreigners could fight here, I immediately bought a bus ticket and headed to Poland to get to Ukraine,” says Nicolas, who didn’t even have an international passport because French citizens only need an internal document to travel within the Schengen area. This didn’t hinder his entry into Ukraine. He fought in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions In March of last year, Nicolas entered Ukraine for the first time. The bus driver provided a sheet for a taxi driver where he wrote where he needed to be taken, and that’s how Nicolas arrived at the Yavoriv training ground. He arrived there at night and wasn’t immediately allowed into the territory but was placed nearby where civilians were stationed. Nicolas could hear the flights over the training ground with his own ears. “I spent three days at the base. On the third evening, we boarded a bus that took us to Kyiv,” Nicolas recounts. At first, he and other foreign fighters were tasked with guarding...
“Stop machine! Stop engine! Keep calm and listen to me!” These words, spoken in terrifying English by armed Russian Marines in August, made headlines around the world. Russian military personnel stopped the ship Şükrü Okan flying the flag of Palau in the Black Sea, about 30 nautical miles from the Turkish coast. The vessel was supposedly headed to the Ukrainian city of Izmail and did not respond to “warning signals.” In essence, this incident served as a clear confirmation of how Moscow intends to enforce its blockade of the humanitarian corridor, which it announced following the collapse of the “grain deal.” Western experts interpreted these actions as an example of piracy in the 21st century. Such behavior is a stark indication of Russia’s nervousness over its inability to withstand attacks from Ukrainian drones targeting the “pride of Russia” — the Black Sea Fleet. Ukrainska Pravda (media outlet) investigated the current state of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which, since February 24, 2022, has gone from bravado in intimidating Ukrainian border guards near Snake Island to the sinking of the flagship Moskva, attacks on the fleet’s bases, and constant drone strikes from Ukrainian troops. The fleet of discord At the time of the Soviet Union’s dissolution, the Black Sea Fleet was considered one of the most materially well-equipped within the USSR. Its total fleet size, according to various estimates, ranged from 800 to 2000 vessels, with approximately 300 of them being combat-ready. It is these combat-ready vessels that we will focus on in this article. It is not surprising that such military might become a source of discord between Kyiv and Moscow. The fleet could not be decisively divided until 1997 when the infamous Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed between Ukraine and Russia. Concerning the Black Sea Fleet, the treaty clearly favored Russia, which acquired over 80% of the fleet’s assets, including ships. Source: Ukrainska Pravda While these arrangements cannot be considered favorable for Kyiv, they included several clauses that influenced the development (or rather, degradation) of the Black Sea Fleet in the following decades. “First of all, it should be noted that there was an economic crisis at that time, and many ships could not be adequately maintained; they were sold for scrap metal. Additionally, under the terms of that treaty, Russia was not allowed to introduce...
As it is well-known Russia has about 1,500 troops stationed in the unrecognised separatists’ republic Transnistria (Republic of Moldova), post-Soviet “frozen conflict” zone, that has eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine. Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (Ukrainian Parliament) adopted the law on denunciation of five agreements between...
