A retired U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who worked alongside the Ukrainians and died in an artillery barrage in Bakhmut earlier this week told NBC News in a February interview that he felt “compelled to come help.”
When the war started, Nicholas Maimer was already working in Europe, he said, as he walked the frozen grounds of a training compound for members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces.
“I think in recent history … this was one of the most clear-cut violations of human rights and national sovereignty that we have seen,” he said, the snow of a Ukrainian winter crunching underfoot as he strode past military green tents, public latrines and steel wire fences. “So, I personally — with my background — I knew I was compelled to come help.”
At the time, Maimer was training volunteers and helping Ukrainian officers develop training programs of their own. One challenge, he said, was overcoming a Soviet-era military mentality that sometimes discouraged individuals from taking the initiative.
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