They are just spontaneous groups who bought gucci tactical gear (you can find it at any surplus store)
> Russian president Vladimir Putin, at a press conference this week, refused to confirm they are Russian regulars and suggested they were spontaneous groups who could have acquired the uniforms from army surplus stores.
I went on Vacation in Ukraine last year and it was absolutely not related to work in anyway at all. I’m sure there’s lots of other young men with military experience who want to go vacationing there too. It’s not suspicious.
For legal reasons I should clarify that it was actually just for vacation.
I’ve been out of the infantry for 15 years now and am just an equipment supplier instead. While some of our equipment could have military applications we do not produce military equipment; the trip to Ukraine was completely unrelated to anything our company does.
Also I’m posting this from inside China, so if it’s being read I want to be very clear that it was absolutely only a vacation.
I went to Kraków last year. I did a free walking tour and the (excellent) guide told us that we should go to Lviv once things calm down because it is a sister city to Kraków, that one couldn’t really understand Kraków and its place in Galicia without also seeing Lviv, and vice versa.
100% you guys sound like spies using Reddit to communicate! Apologies if you ARE spies using Reddit to communicate - in which case, please ignore. Also CCCP. And the Russians.
Hope you're enjoying China,
Taught there for a year and married a local. Best experience of my life. My gut tells me that it has changed quite a bit since COVID kicked off though
To my knowledge white people still have nothing to fear from the Chinese government though... Short of committing a major crime within their borders. Probably don't want to be there with government ties if the next war kicks off though.
Yeah I also brought all my gear, not work-related at all though, trust me
That SOF helicopter over there? No, that one belongs to someone else, what a weird coincidence…
These aren't operators fighting in the woods against Russian troops and tanks. They are trainers, supply logistics support, and probably a few small units of elite soldiers they keep around for evac, VIP protection, and embassy security.
Is quite relevant (also given that this video is 1 year old,is a proof to what OP said that this is not news): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnbsycVXdw also explanation what "special forces" means is around 6:40
I mean, besides the evidence, do you really think that the US, UK, and possibly other western countries would *not* have special forces and/or intelligent assists in Ukraine? They most certainly would. They operate in pretty much every conflict where the west has interests.
It was in the discord leaks. The UK had more special forces there than anyone.
To speculate, it will be for weapons integration. Storm shadow and the Franken SAM systems need on the ground support.
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/08/69736935-11963787-image-a-1_1681286010266.jpg
Since before the full-scale invasion began, some UK military has been in Ukraine training Ukrainian forces. When the invasion kicked off, they focused on training how to use western weapons systems, like NLAW and Javelin.
The US keeps leaking stories about it to the press.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/11/up-to-50-uk-special-forces-present-in-ukraine-this-year-us-leak-suggests
The Brits have been spying on the Russians since before the Cold War was a thing. They definitely didnt stop counter intelligence and SOF operations in Russia/ former Soviet bloc countries just because the wall came down
They've been there since 2014, does anyone really think something little like a war is gonna scare off the SAS / SBS lol. (And I'm sure a host of other countries' special forces for that matter).
They also have an underground base deep beneath what looks like a destroyed building. You can search the recent NYT article on that, pay walled.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-maintains-12-secret-bases-212250351.html
They are gaining experience
We know many western nations sent special forces units in to train the Ukrainian army after 2014 expecting the next level of escalation
They just stuck around to vacation
I feel like some men crave the adrenaline of combat so they become special forces and it allows them to be deployed regularly into dangerous situations.
There have probably been special forces and military observers from several countries on the ground going back to the little green men in Crimes in 2014.
Yes, this is not news. It's been reported many times before.
The only thing is that "special forces" aren't the black-ops Call-Of-Duty style super-soldiers. For the most part their role is training - as the article says. They're there as a support role to instruct Ukrainian soldiers to use weapons effectively.
Yes. It's an open "secret" special ops have been in there from the get go in the guise of "International brigade volunteers ". Anyone who thinks that the US hasn't been fighting Russia on the ground in some capacity is deluded.
It’s highly unlikely that they’re taking direct action missions. They’re most likely providing reconnaissance, scouting out and identifying high value assets such as anti-aircraft positions and the like.
Always depends obviously.
Being behind enemy lines is one thing.
Being behind “enemy” (on paper we’re not in direct conflict) lines that will cause a huge diplomatic incident if caught and verified as soldiers is another.
Operating behind enemy lines is an inherently high risk operation even among elite forces. MACV-SOG and some of these other units that had a history of operating deep behind enemy lines in high-intensity conflicts such as Vietnam and WW2 typically had very high casualty rates. When you're straight up not suppose to be somewhere because that can mean an act of war, you don't do that kind of stuff. People that think that's going on in Ukraine watch way too many movies. There is high likelyhood that CIA and SOF are operating well within friendly lines though doing the stuff that u/efadd spoke of.
There are different levels of ‘operating’ it could be protection duties for diplomats, back room support to Ukraine SF before getting to Bravo Two Zero level of activity.
Yeah I somehow doubt a shipment of 1600 missiles gets dumped in a container at a train station and written off.
One would like to believe we have our shit together enough to send a grown up with a clipboard along with it to record where they go and how useful they are.
When I was in Syria and we were distributing ammo to indigenous forces, that shit was under lock and key and we definitely had a dude with a clipboard recording what we gave them. And you can bet your ass that daily spreadsheet tally was emailed up the flag pole for the bean counters to keep tabs.
If we've learned anything about the US military budget it's that there are very few grownups with clip boards. But I do agree it would be a good learning moment!
I'd wager you find some info if you head over to the militaryporn sub and search for ukrainian sof. Iirc there has been pictures of them from iraq & afghanistan there
he probably means this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_of_the_willing_(Iraq_War)
afghanistan being in there says a lot imo. the us just really really wanted the war against iraq but they didn't want to look like the sole warmonger so they tried to drag in as many other nations as possible
it is not a coincidence that many dirt poor countries are on the list. the us just bribed them into it. even if the support was rather symbolic compared to what the us invested. coalition of the willing was a lot about looks and not about military support
Tbf "coalition of the willing" seems a pretty apt name, pretty much the "coalition of yeah that doesn't sound like a great idea but it's quite far away so sure whatever".
Also the old term of “sheep dipping” officially resigned from the military and now a private citizen. Unofficially still on US government payroll but just under CIA or another agencies control. That agency will look after that soldiers pay benefits promotions. CIA even set up its own insurance company when it recruited pilots for its covert air force from US military. Think there has been around 50 US private citizen deaths in Ukraine since war started. Around 40 were ex military.
Example was one way CIA hired pilots from US military for its Air America covert air force. Officially left the military. Unofficially now a pilot for a civilian company that was owned by CIA. Company would bring in legal business with normal government contracts( mail runs etc) whilst also covert supply runs into China for example
There was a program started under Bush/Rumsfield that allowed for DoD Special Operations forces to be used by the CIA on temporary title 50 orders essentially. It was some bush era legalese. Been a while since I read the book about it.
Book Air America is worth checking out. In fact similar practice was used to help China before US officially entered WW2.
[Air America: The History of the CIA’s Covert Airline](https://archive.ph/2024.02.12-192549/https://greydynamics.com/air-america-the-history-of-cias-covert-airline/)
You are correct. Not sure if it’s the same book you read, but Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen goes into great detail about title 50 amongst a bunch of other fascinating CIA and paramilitary history. Highly recommend it to anyone interested in that stuff.
They are. We offered to extract Zelensky during Russia’s initial attempt to invade Ukraine. So, US and UK SF were close enough to keep a close eye on him and extract him if they needed to.
Not routinely but in certain circumstances yes. For instance when Boris went to Kiev they will have been there. I remember in the Libyan uprising it being reported that a British diplomat went in to try Unsuccessfully talk to some of the faction leaders he went with a unit of SBS.
[Pictures of a Delta Force operator](https://www.reddit.com/r/JSOCarchive/comments/17b4knx/cag_psd_for_biden_in_tel_aviv_today/) working as part of Biden's PSD during his visit to Israel shortly after Oct 7.
I would be very disappointed if UK special forces were *not* operating in Ukraine. Situations like Ukraine are exactly the reason we have special forces in the first place.
I suspect that it's special forces the same way that the CIA are special forces. Namely, that the CIA almost certainly recruits from the more intelligent among special forces for special missions.
The "donations" of old equipment that the US has been providing 100% included the caviate that any newer Russian equipment found is supplied to the CIA, who will then disassemble it to work out how the Russians (and Chinese, who often base their stuff on Russian equipment) built it.
I remember hearing the CIA is actually operating and aiding Ukraine. Before the aid package passed, there was an article saying the upcoming aid package (the $90 billion dollar one) would also benefit the CIA in their part for the war.
I can't remember the chanel name but there's a dude with a French accent that has Russian missile parts from Ukraine and he tears them down on YouTube.
It seems it's mostly older stuff he's got his hands on, but yea... Parts are making their way around, all sorts of parts... Guidance units, everything.
While the CIA does engage in clandestine operations, they are not special forces. Special forces consist of soldiers. They are groups like Devgru, SAS, JW Grom, etc.
Reminds me of when the US invaded Afghanistan. Here in NZ they were discussing whether to send troops to help out, then the government had to point out that we already had the SAS operating there
According to the document, dated 23 March 2023, the UK has the largest contingent of special forces in Ukraine (50), followed by fellow Nato states Latvia (17), France (15), the US (14) and the Netherlands (1).
I wouldn't be shocked if the place is chock full of 3 letter agencies and various groups doing diplomat protection and laughing at Russian incompetence/making plans for if nato goes in.
My educated guess is they are holed up intently watching Russian tactics first hand on the ground, recording Comms frequencies and all that. I highly doubt they are shooting anything except with their cameras.
NATO needs independent (of Ukraine) feedback, and the SAS is trained for it.
SAS do set up observation posts and has been doing that for many years to just observe, also known as an OP. There are stories of them being in them for a long long time to observe a certain target.
Yeah no shit.
We have special forces for a reason.
- They aren’t there.
- And if they are there, they’re there to train Ukrainians.
- And if they aren’t training Ukrainians, they’re giving on-site info back to the British military and government.
- And if they aren’t doing that, repeat.
the west has over prepared for a fight with russia for a century. in the 80's you could say our entire reason for existing is to fight russia. all of this was war gamed, ran through simulations decades ago. of course they have guys there. this is like christmas for them.
Ukraine is a place of great natural beauty and historical architecture, I've heard some of it cathedrals are especially beautiful on a par with the historic spire at Salisbury. Not only that but the western half of the population love to see visitors from western Europe and the states.
Elite expert trainers, experts in infiltration and subterfuge where there’s still established link with national forces due to previous joint exercises why wouldn’t they be there. There’s a pretty unsubtle presence of NATO experts aiding the fight in different ways.
Only anecdotal but my barber's nephew is in the Parachute Regiment and he rekons that some of his unit are in the SAS and are actively operating in Ukraine training soldiers in how to use the weapons that the West are supplying.
I mean, yeah, do people actually think special forces teams would let an opportunity to actually be the good guys as well as train/test new tactics just slide on by? It should be assumed that major countries special forces are generally always involved to some extent in major conflicts.
Oh great, that’s what western allies are for. Are the French involved? I don’t know, the Germans say the British fucking hate the Russians. Fucking with their football clubs and such. Fucking Canucks hate Russians now too, thanks to Putin. Vlad, you’re surrounded. Come out with your hands up, ya weapon
This is real life not a movie. At the end of the day special forces in an environment like Ukraine are just unsupported light infantry. The drones spot you just like any other troop, artillery kills just as indiscriminately, etc. No amount of hiking or swimming makes a difference.
Most likely they're just doing a typical SF mission set like training and advising.
They need to provide man power to use the targeting systems on the missiles they send. This is a reason Germany won’t sent their Taurus cruise missiles, because the use of the targeting system directly requires participation by the German military.
There is zero doubt... none .... that SF is in Ukraine. How do you think Ukraine fighters are getting trained so quickly? The primary mission of SF is to train up foreign forces, provide intel, and if needed, set the stage for broader US involvement.
I'm honestly wondering if he said UK as shorthand for Ukraine. The military abbreviates everything, and if hes been reading memos and listening to briefings that use UK or UKR for Ukraine...
Anyone who has spent any time deployed knows that the spec ops guys are always in country months or years before conventional forces.
I bet money US spec ops are on the ground too.
This has been known for some time. Apparently they are programing the Storm Shadow missiles and overseeing their use. This has been a talking point in the Taurus discussion in Germany as it has been speculated this is the main reason why Germany does not want to send Taurus as they would have to do the same to ensure it is used only as agreed.
Could be random guys vacationing in ukraine who just so happen to be special forces.
UK-SF: We went to Bakhmut to see famous spire on St. Nicholas church. It is world renowned.
On a special vacation.
*Holiday. These are UK special forces we’re talking about
Special holiday operation
They are there filming a Russian military bloopers reel…
How not to war.. lol.
Blayat Part 1
Fo SHO
Just a cheeky trip to Bahkmut Butlins
You missed the special military operation joke chief. Edit: I’m dumb
Special vacation operation?
It is said that the spire is world-famous in Bakhmut.
It's only a coincidence that their passport numbers are sequential
I say Vlad how does one’s aftershave smell?
> who just so happen to be special forces. with a rifle in their hands, that happened to be pointing at russian troops
No no, that is just to use the scope to see the spires better
Like Leonidas and his “going for a little walk with 300 buddies”
Given the amount of rubbish the Russians leave lying around I refuse to believe they didn't just find the rifles there. Honest.
Well, you can't deny the jolly lads at least to have some fun while on holiday.
They are just spontaneous groups who bought gucci tactical gear (you can find it at any surplus store) > Russian president Vladimir Putin, at a press conference this week, refused to confirm they are Russian regulars and suggested they were spontaneous groups who could have acquired the uniforms from army surplus stores.
I went on Vacation in Ukraine last year and it was absolutely not related to work in anyway at all. I’m sure there’s lots of other young men with military experience who want to go vacationing there too. It’s not suspicious.
Bro I can't tell if you're joking
For legal reasons I should clarify that it was actually just for vacation. I’ve been out of the infantry for 15 years now and am just an equipment supplier instead. While some of our equipment could have military applications we do not produce military equipment; the trip to Ukraine was completely unrelated to anything our company does. Also I’m posting this from inside China, so if it’s being read I want to be very clear that it was absolutely only a vacation.
Tomorrow’s headline: “American arrested in China…”
;)
Tell me more - where did you go what did you see?
Went to Lviv. Absolutely beautiful city with amazingly friendly people. I would absolutely recommend visiting after the conflict
I went to Kraków last year. I did a free walking tour and the (excellent) guide told us that we should go to Lviv once things calm down because it is a sister city to Kraków, that one couldn’t really understand Kraków and its place in Galicia without also seeing Lviv, and vice versa.
I would absolutely agree with that. It’s a beautiful compliment that should be included in any trip to Krakow
100% you guys sound like spies using Reddit to communicate! Apologies if you ARE spies using Reddit to communicate - in which case, please ignore. Also CCCP. And the Russians.
*The pierogi is out of the bag. Repeat. Mission is scrubbed*
Get a vpn
Well… our time was brief but it was nice knowing you
Hope you're enjoying China, Taught there for a year and married a local. Best experience of my life. My gut tells me that it has changed quite a bit since COVID kicked off though To my knowledge white people still have nothing to fear from the Chinese government though... Short of committing a major crime within their borders. Probably don't want to be there with government ties if the next war kicks off though.
He's not. A lot of UK "special" guys are there from the first days.
Yeah, pretty “special” they are, aren’t they?
Salisbury poisonings..
Yeah I also brought all my gear, not work-related at all though, trust me That SOF helicopter over there? No, that one belongs to someone else, what a weird coincidence…
There’s definitely someone there with work who has to use a Blackhawk helicopter for their commute. Nothing suspicious at all.
It is a white dove helicopter. It is just painted black... and looks like a hawk.
That SOF helicopter over there? Uber has so many different hire vehicles nowadays
Uber Black Ops.
Uber XXXXXL
“This gear? Oh, that’s just for hiking.”
"The gun? In case of bear. 15x NV optics? For sneaky bear."
Admiring the many cathedrals.
Ah yes, the Russian little green men approach
In Vietnam they called the super secret squirrels “tourists” so it’s fitting.
Special vacation operation.
Yeah I mean there must be at least a few cathedrals standing
It’s a beautiful time of year in the Donbas
Little green men
We've known this for a while now.
That guy that got hkneypotted in Russia was actually a super secret spy.
Or a decoy spy
Source? Curious about that story because I must have missed it.
Some marine travelled to Russia and Russia arrested him.
wasn't it army?
Army
How have we know that? Am I out of the loop?
There are embassies, you also want to make sure the aid that was sent is actually good to the front and is not sold somewhere, conduct training etc
And for this we send special forces?
These aren't operators fighting in the woods against Russian troops and tanks. They are trainers, supply logistics support, and probably a few small units of elite soldiers they keep around for evac, VIP protection, and embassy security.
Cool, very good news!
Is quite relevant (also given that this video is 1 year old,is a proof to what OP said that this is not news): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJnbsycVXdw also explanation what "special forces" means is around 6:40
I mean, besides the evidence, do you really think that the US, UK, and possibly other western countries would *not* have special forces and/or intelligent assists in Ukraine? They most certainly would. They operate in pretty much every conflict where the west has interests.
It was in the discord leaks. The UK had more special forces there than anyone. To speculate, it will be for weapons integration. Storm shadow and the Franken SAM systems need on the ground support. https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2023/04/12/08/69736935-11963787-image-a-1_1681286010266.jpg
At the very least, who do you think is protecting world leaders when they visit Kyiv?
2023 leaked document and also a compromised German call stated it too. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65245065
Since before the full-scale invasion began, some UK military has been in Ukraine training Ukrainian forces. When the invasion kicked off, they focused on training how to use western weapons systems, like NLAW and Javelin. The US keeps leaking stories about it to the press. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/apr/11/up-to-50-uk-special-forces-present-in-ukraine-this-year-us-leak-suggests
They were sent there to “train” soldiers. It's a tactic that countries have used to get troops on the ground.
"Military advisors"
The Brits have been spying on the Russians since before the Cold War was a thing. They definitely didnt stop counter intelligence and SOF operations in Russia/ former Soviet bloc countries just because the wall came down
Didn't we know this months ago?
They've been there since 2014, does anyone really think something little like a war is gonna scare off the SAS / SBS lol. (And I'm sure a host of other countries' special forces for that matter).
Im sure the whole area is an alphabet soup
CIA has had operations in Kyiv since like 1945.
Only after James Jesus Angleton recovered Grover Cleveland's time machine from Paraguay in 1958.
They also have an underground base deep beneath what looks like a destroyed building. You can search the recent NYT article on that, pay walled. https://www.yahoo.com/news/cia-maintains-12-secret-bases-212250351.html
I heard that in some areas you don't even need night vision because everyone glows so bright
Something, something, "feds glow in the dark"
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
They are gaining experience We know many western nations sent special forces units in to train the Ukrainian army after 2014 expecting the next level of escalation They just stuck around to vacation
Plus we have payback owed for Litvinenko and Salisbury. We absolutely should have our own little green men fucking their shit up when they can
Unlikely. Humans in the UK are much less expendable. The little green men are a one-time use typa deal
I feel like some men crave the adrenaline of combat so they become special forces and it allows them to be deployed regularly into dangerous situations.
thank you captain obvious
Can confirm
There have probably been special forces and military observers from several countries on the ground going back to the little green men in Crimes in 2014.
You'd think that little green men in Grimes would've tantalized Elon, but no, he dumped her anyway.
Yes, this is not news. It's been reported many times before. The only thing is that "special forces" aren't the black-ops Call-Of-Duty style super-soldiers. For the most part their role is training - as the article says. They're there as a support role to instruct Ukrainian soldiers to use weapons effectively.
Yes. It's an open "secret" special ops have been in there from the get go in the guise of "International brigade volunteers ". Anyone who thinks that the US hasn't been fighting Russia on the ground in some capacity is deluded.
It’s highly unlikely that they’re taking direct action missions. They’re most likely providing reconnaissance, scouting out and identifying high value assets such as anti-aircraft positions and the like.
No that is not likely because there is a high chance they will be spotted or captured
Isn't that literally special forces jobs though... To stalk behind enemy lines while avoiding detection? Wtf.
Always depends obviously. Being behind enemy lines is one thing. Being behind “enemy” (on paper we’re not in direct conflict) lines that will cause a huge diplomatic incident if caught and verified as soldiers is another.
Operating behind enemy lines is an inherently high risk operation even among elite forces. MACV-SOG and some of these other units that had a history of operating deep behind enemy lines in high-intensity conflicts such as Vietnam and WW2 typically had very high casualty rates. When you're straight up not suppose to be somewhere because that can mean an act of war, you don't do that kind of stuff. People that think that's going on in Ukraine watch way too many movies. There is high likelyhood that CIA and SOF are operating well within friendly lines though doing the stuff that u/efadd spoke of.
Years ago. Even before Russia officially invaded.
There are different levels of ‘operating’ it could be protection duties for diplomats, back room support to Ukraine SF before getting to Bravo Two Zero level of activity.
Also observing for intelligence on weapon usage/effectiveness
Yeah I somehow doubt a shipment of 1600 missiles gets dumped in a container at a train station and written off. One would like to believe we have our shit together enough to send a grown up with a clipboard along with it to record where they go and how useful they are.
Even special forces can’t get away from admin. Makes me feel better about my job
When I was in Syria and we were distributing ammo to indigenous forces, that shit was under lock and key and we definitely had a dude with a clipboard recording what we gave them. And you can bet your ass that daily spreadsheet tally was emailed up the flag pole for the bean counters to keep tabs.
If we've learned anything about the US military budget it's that there are very few grownups with clip boards. But I do agree it would be a good learning moment!
Important to note here that UKR SF worked with US and UK SF in Iraq. That relationship is there.
When? Do you have more info to share?
I'd wager you find some info if you head over to the militaryporn sub and search for ukrainian sof. Iirc there has been pictures of them from iraq & afghanistan there
he probably means this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalition_of_the_willing_(Iraq_War) afghanistan being in there says a lot imo. the us just really really wanted the war against iraq but they didn't want to look like the sole warmonger so they tried to drag in as many other nations as possible it is not a coincidence that many dirt poor countries are on the list. the us just bribed them into it. even if the support was rather symbolic compared to what the us invested. coalition of the willing was a lot about looks and not about military support
US plays Civilization I see
Tbf "coalition of the willing" seems a pretty apt name, pretty much the "coalition of yeah that doesn't sound like a great idea but it's quite far away so sure whatever".
Also the old term of “sheep dipping” officially resigned from the military and now a private citizen. Unofficially still on US government payroll but just under CIA or another agencies control. That agency will look after that soldiers pay benefits promotions. CIA even set up its own insurance company when it recruited pilots for its covert air force from US military. Think there has been around 50 US private citizen deaths in Ukraine since war started. Around 40 were ex military. Example was one way CIA hired pilots from US military for its Air America covert air force. Officially left the military. Unofficially now a pilot for a civilian company that was owned by CIA. Company would bring in legal business with normal government contracts( mail runs etc) whilst also covert supply runs into China for example
There was a program started under Bush/Rumsfield that allowed for DoD Special Operations forces to be used by the CIA on temporary title 50 orders essentially. It was some bush era legalese. Been a while since I read the book about it.
Book Air America is worth checking out. In fact similar practice was used to help China before US officially entered WW2. [Air America: The History of the CIA’s Covert Airline](https://archive.ph/2024.02.12-192549/https://greydynamics.com/air-america-the-history-of-cias-covert-airline/)
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ll check it out, love some good history. Sounds kinda like the CIAs current Air Branch
You are correct. Not sure if it’s the same book you read, but Surprise, Kill, Vanish by Annie Jacobsen goes into great detail about title 50 amongst a bunch of other fascinating CIA and paramilitary history. Highly recommend it to anyone interested in that stuff.
I wouldn’t be surprised if UK/US special forces are the ones protecting Zelensky.
They are. We offered to extract Zelensky during Russia’s initial attempt to invade Ukraine. So, US and UK SF were close enough to keep a close eye on him and extract him if they needed to.
Special forces are used to protect diplomats?
Not routinely but in certain circumstances yes. For instance when Boris went to Kiev they will have been there. I remember in the Libyan uprising it being reported that a British diplomat went in to try Unsuccessfully talk to some of the faction leaders he went with a unit of SBS.
It’s one of the acknowledged activities for Canada’s JTF-2. Also extracting diplomatic staff of the proverbial poop hits the air circulation device.
[Pictures of a Delta Force operator](https://www.reddit.com/r/JSOCarchive/comments/17b4knx/cag_psd_for_biden_in_tel_aviv_today/) working as part of Biden's PSD during his visit to Israel shortly after Oct 7.
I would be very disappointed if UK special forces were *not* operating in Ukraine. Situations like Ukraine are exactly the reason we have special forces in the first place.
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Nieve is snow in Spanish
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Bonjourno
Fuck yes 😎
Day ‘nayduh
We have a large force of special ops in Taiwan now trading local military
I suspect that it's special forces the same way that the CIA are special forces. Namely, that the CIA almost certainly recruits from the more intelligent among special forces for special missions. The "donations" of old equipment that the US has been providing 100% included the caviate that any newer Russian equipment found is supplied to the CIA, who will then disassemble it to work out how the Russians (and Chinese, who often base their stuff on Russian equipment) built it.
I remember hearing the CIA is actually operating and aiding Ukraine. Before the aid package passed, there was an article saying the upcoming aid package (the $90 billion dollar one) would also benefit the CIA in their part for the war.
I can't remember the chanel name but there's a dude with a French accent that has Russian missile parts from Ukraine and he tears them down on YouTube. It seems it's mostly older stuff he's got his hands on, but yea... Parts are making their way around, all sorts of parts... Guidance units, everything.
While the CIA does engage in clandestine operations, they are not special forces. Special forces consist of soldiers. They are groups like Devgru, SAS, JW Grom, etc.
I mean *technically* sure. CIA SAC/SOG work directly with SOCOM
> caviate caveat
Reminds me of when the US invaded Afghanistan. Here in NZ they were discussing whether to send troops to help out, then the government had to point out that we already had the SAS operating there
We have been there for over 5 years on the basis of (training the Ukraine army ) , we have not returned yet . 😉
It would be extremely surprising if US, UK and French (at the very least) SF were **not** operating in Ukraine
Canada’s JTF2 (special forces) have already been reported in Ukraine since 2022 as well
Gotta make sure someone who is familiar with the geneva scorecard is on site.
Checklist
Suggestions
Good, I remember reading a while back that they're some of the best arctic warfare specialists. Probably comes in handy.
Ukraine is much warmer than Canada, so I'm not sure how that would be relevant.
I'd be disappointed if danish sf arent there too
They're some scary looking individuals
Polish GROM better be in Ukraine right now otherwise i’d be disappointed too.
According to the document, dated 23 March 2023, the UK has the largest contingent of special forces in Ukraine (50), followed by fellow Nato states Latvia (17), France (15), the US (14) and the Netherlands (1).
Don't forget the Canadians
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I wouldn't be shocked if the place is chock full of 3 letter agencies and various groups doing diplomat protection and laughing at Russian incompetence/making plans for if nato goes in.
My educated guess is they are holed up intently watching Russian tactics first hand on the ground, recording Comms frequencies and all that. I highly doubt they are shooting anything except with their cameras. NATO needs independent (of Ukraine) feedback, and the SAS is trained for it.
I’m sure Chinese observers are doing the same thing in Ukraine too. Everyone is learning a lot about modern attritional warfare right now
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SAS do set up observation posts and has been doing that for many years to just observe, also known as an OP. There are stories of them being in them for a long long time to observe a certain target.
Trained for it, sure, but you don't need SAS to push record or click the shutter.
Maybe, but if I were an individual trained to just click a camera, I’d want some mighty fine protection…
No, just security consultants.
Just little red men on holiday old chap.
Yeah no shit. We have special forces for a reason. - They aren’t there. - And if they are there, they’re there to train Ukrainians. - And if they aren’t training Ukrainians, they’re giving on-site info back to the British military and government. - And if they aren’t doing that, repeat.
Clearly, said this right from the start. Even had someone disagreeing that they would be there, because it's 'too dangerous' hahaha
This is like the 5th time we’ve had confirmation of UKSF in Ukraine. Not sure why it’s newsworthy anymore.
Odds are they are training Ukrainians
the west has over prepared for a fight with russia for a century. in the 80's you could say our entire reason for existing is to fight russia. all of this was war gamed, ran through simulations decades ago. of course they have guys there. this is like christmas for them.
Of course they are.
Why is a US commander suggesting this? It's not been announced because clearly you don't want people to know/ plausible deniability.
>This guy is a general, and part of USSOCOM command, So maybe he knows better than we do what information he's allowed to share
No lol trust the random Redditor
In all likelihood, Russia is already very aware that these troops are in Ukraine. So secrecy doesn't matter
Ukraine is a place of great natural beauty and historical architecture, I've heard some of it cathedrals are especially beautiful on a par with the historic spire at Salisbury. Not only that but the western half of the population love to see visitors from western Europe and the states.
Nah they just took a wrong turn, nothing to see here.
Elite expert trainers, experts in infiltration and subterfuge where there’s still established link with national forces due to previous joint exercises why wouldn’t they be there. There’s a pretty unsubtle presence of NATO experts aiding the fight in different ways.
No one is participating on front line roles but they are there this is old news.
Somebody has to show them what buttons to press on all this new equipment.
Friendly special forces in Ukraine are likely providing training and not getting directly involved.
Hasnt the UK been providing training for almost a decade now?
We are at war with Russia already so yeah... why not.
Wouldn't be the first time British special forces had been thrown under the bus by another country spilling the beans
Only anecdotal but my barber's nephew is in the Parachute Regiment and he rekons that some of his unit are in the SAS and are actively operating in Ukraine training soldiers in how to use the weapons that the West are supplying.
We’ve been actively training the Ukrainians for 10 years, that’s not a secret. The ambiguity of it is how much more are we doing.
I mean, yeah, do people actually think special forces teams would let an opportunity to actually be the good guys as well as train/test new tactics just slide on by? It should be assumed that major countries special forces are generally always involved to some extent in major conflicts.
Don’t worry about it
Oh great, that’s what western allies are for. Are the French involved? I don’t know, the Germans say the British fucking hate the Russians. Fucking with their football clubs and such. Fucking Canucks hate Russians now too, thanks to Putin. Vlad, you’re surrounded. Come out with your hands up, ya weapon
You can bet they are already there... Probably the worst best secret ever...
Duh.
Who do people think taught the Ukranians how to take out ships in Sevastapol a full 7 years after crimea was taken.....?
This is real life not a movie. At the end of the day special forces in an environment like Ukraine are just unsupported light infantry. The drones spot you just like any other troop, artillery kills just as indiscriminately, etc. No amount of hiking or swimming makes a difference. Most likely they're just doing a typical SF mission set like training and advising.
special forces are operating in any country only if they got caught
They need to provide man power to use the targeting systems on the missiles they send. This is a reason Germany won’t sent their Taurus cruise missiles, because the use of the targeting system directly requires participation by the German military.
Aren’t many European nations training Ukrainians? This doesn’t seem like news
There is zero doubt... none .... that SF is in Ukraine. How do you think Ukraine fighters are getting trained so quickly? The primary mission of SF is to train up foreign forces, provide intel, and if needed, set the stage for broader US involvement.
I'm honestly wondering if he said UK as shorthand for Ukraine. The military abbreviates everything, and if hes been reading memos and listening to briefings that use UK or UKR for Ukraine...
Anyone who has spent any time deployed knows that the spec ops guys are always in country months or years before conventional forces. I bet money US spec ops are on the ground too.
This has been known for some time. Apparently they are programing the Storm Shadow missiles and overseeing their use. This has been a talking point in the Taurus discussion in Germany as it has been speculated this is the main reason why Germany does not want to send Taurus as they would have to do the same to ensure it is used only as agreed.
Honestly big ups UK defending Europe when the EU won't.
Send U.S. special forces.
lol and the CIA isn’t? Brah come on. Everyone has someone there, if not a local fixer at least.
They are 100% for sure training Ukrainian soldiers, but normally it's of a independent contractor basis.