US sniper with Ukraine’s International Legion on what makes this war different
Ukrainian-language report (UNIAN): Sampson on trench warfare, mining, and how fighting in Ukraine differs from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaking to UNIAN, Matthew Sampson — a former U.S. Marine Scout Sniper who volunteered with Ukraine’s International Legion (GUR) after arriving in May 2022 — explains how the fight in Ukraine bears little resemblance to his earlier combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The biggest shock, he says, was trench warfare: U.S. forces don’t train for it, drilling instead on clearing rooms and corridors — “but they usually have doors.” And where American units expect overwhelming firepower, the Ukrainian front is often a near-even fight.
“The American approach usually has plenty of resources. But here there are almost none — the forces on the front are often roughly equal. Honestly, we’re not used to that.”
He describes hard-won lessons working alongside Ukrainian operators, including disagreements over the right way to clear a room — where, he concedes, the Ukrainian method often made more sense given how little margin there was for error.
Reported in Russian by UNIAN; quotes translated to English.