Dramatic point of view footage circulating online appears to show U.S. volunteers in Ukraine moving through a Russian trench in an unknown location along the front line.
The video, which contains very strong language, is said to show U.S. volunteers from the “Chosen Company” traveling in a rural area, with the soldiers speaking in English over the sound of gunshots. The video, captured by one of the soldiers, then shows a vehicle stopping and fighters pouring out.
The soldier bearing the camera fires into the distance at what appear to be Russian positions, before more exchanges of fire and footage of the soldier with the camera throwing a grenade can be seen. The video then cuts to show the fighters moving through a trench to the sound of heavy gunfire, with smoke lingering in the area. A fighter, whose face cannot be seen, then throws another grenade before the clip splices to another shot of more fighting.
Newsweek could not independently verify when or where the clip was filmed, nor that the soldiers were part of the “Chosen Company,” volunteers fighting with Ukraine’s 59th Motorized Brigade.
Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images
Since the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine in 2022, volunteers from across the globe have traveled there to fight alongside Kyiv’s forces. Several U.S. volunteers have been killed in the 18-month-long conflict.
Earlier this month, it was reported that two U.S. citizens had died during a Russian drone attack while serving with the 59th Motorized Brigade, according to reports from friends of the fighters.
Former U.S. Marine, Lance Lawrence was wounded and subsequently died while providing cover for fellow Chosen Company soldiers, Ryan O’Leary, who describes himself on social media as the company’s commander, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Another soldier, who described himself as a part of Chosen Company, said Lawrence “never failed to brighten the moods of anyone and everyone around him,” and was an “integral part of Chosen Company.”
Former U.S. Army officer, Andrew Webber, “fell on the same operation as Lance,” O’Leary wrote in a separate post.
“Andrew brought a lot of knowledge to the table in planning and operations, as well as a cool head on the actual operations,” he wrote.
Another volunteer killed fighting the Russians was former U.S. Green Beret, Nick Maimer. He headed out to Ukraine in 2022 and was deployed in the devastated city of Bakhmut, where he died in May 2023.
His remains were filmed by Wagner Group mercenaries and the footage was posted online in a video featuring Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in a plane crash on August 23.