US Sniper Tells What Surprised Him In Ukraine

This isn't Afghanistan.

Russia's war against Ukraine is fundamentally different from the conflicts in which U.S. armies have engaged in recent decades. In particular, the nature of the fighting in Ukraine is different than in Afghanistan and Iraq.

A former U.S. Marine sniper, veteran and volunteer with the International Legion of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate Matthew Sampson told that it was the first time he had to face real trench warfare, something he had never seen while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, where battles sometimes took place in caves.

"We don't train in the trenches at all in the U.S. military. The closest thing we have is training in corridors, but they usually have doors. Trench warfare is very different. It's also different in how you have to best proceed so you don't get killed in the process," Sampson admitted.

The American also revealed that there are often discussions between U.S. service members and Ukrainian fighters about tactics because "the Ukrainian army does things differently" than the U.S. army. For example, a dispute arose between the Ukrainians and the foreigners about the best way to enter a room and mop up where the enemy was.

"We realized there were different ways to do things, and the Ukrainian way made more sense because the battlefield is different. We knew that the Russians were mining much more than we had seen in Iraq or Afghanistan. There we tried to clear buildings with as many people as possible. But in Ukraine it's the opposite, because everything in the rooms can be mined," Sampson shared details.

The veteran said the Ukrainian front was a new type of combat experience for him, where constant shelling, limited resources and the proximity of the enemy make combat extremely dynamic and unpredictable.

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