American military veterans travel to Ukraine to help rescue refugees, bring medical aid and supplies
Former Marines Dakota Meyer and Chad Robichaux discuss their rescue efforts on 'Jesse Watters Primetime.'
While Ukrainians flee the country amid Russia's onslaught, many U.S. military veterans are flocking to the region to help.
Former Marine sniper and Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer and Marine veteran Chad Robichaux boarded a plane to Ukraine to help evacuate American citizens and civilians. Armed with only the medical aid and supplies they arranged, Meyer and Robichaux set out to save those "on the side of good," they told Fox News.
Members of Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, volunteer military units of the Armed Forces, train in a city park in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP/Efrem Lukatsky)
"We're just trying to make a difference where we fit and supply medical aid and supplies," Meyer told "Jesse Watters Primetime" on Monday," "as well as helping get good people out, Americans, people on the side of good."
While some U.S. veterans volunteered to join the Ukrainian resistance in a position of combat, Meyer and Robichaux said they are focussed on using their experience as special operations veterans to evacuate Americans and those wounded by Russian forces.
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"I know a lot of veterans talking about going in in combatant roles," Robichaux, a co-founder of Save Our Allies, said. "For us, we are mostly special operation veterans. We have a tremendous amount of experience. We have done our time fighting. We’re here to do the right thing and help people that need help, evacuate Americans, evacuate wounded people. Bring medical aid to the frontline. Just support the effort and stand on the right side of this terrible, terrible thing."
A Belarusian volunteer arrives in Ukraine to help the Ukrainian army fight against Russian invaders. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Robichaux's group, Save Our Allies, safely rescued 17,000 American citizens and SIV Afghans from Afghanistan when the Taliban seized control, he told Watters.
"We didn’t engage in any combat there. Even though…we don’t like the Taliban. But we stayed out of trouble there and [we will do] the same thing here. We are just here to help," he said.
With that said, Meyer and Robichaux acknowledged the complexity of the situation.
"You know, it’s not like Iraq and Afghanistan," Meyer said. "I mean, this is two sovereign nations who are fighting against each other. You know tit-for-tat. This is a complex situation. And so the intel aspect of this and making sure you are doing this right is not only going to keep you and your team safe but even more importantly it’s going to help you keep the people we are trying to help be safe. As well as be able to do this, you know, long term. And that’s kind of what we’re doing.
Ukrainians crowd under a destroyed bridge as they try to flee from the outskirts of Kyiv as Russian shelling persisted through the weekend. ((AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti) )
"We are not trying to rush in there," he said. "Our team has already gone in and made successful extractions. But, right now, we are trying to make sure that we have got everything lined up just to ensure that not just that we’re safe but that the people we are trying to help, that we’re not putting them in a worse situation which is very critical right now.
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Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov wrote on Facebook Monday that the military has received "more than 20,000 appeals from foreigners who are ready to come to Ukraine and defend the world from the Russian Nazis on the Ukrainian front" in order to prevent "the Kremlin's evil" from spreading.
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