'Irresponsible' or 'antiwar': US fighters in Ukraine grapple with Trump

'Irresponsible' or 'antiwar': US fighters in Ukraine grapple with Trump

'You don't end the war by supporting a war,' said Ishman Martino

Tracey, an American fighting in Ukraine, got angry at social media posts from his friends back home calling for Washington to cut its support to Kyiv. 

US President Donald Trump has repeated money should be spent at home rather than abroad, part of his "America First" programme that has invigorated many, including Tracey's friends.

"Being on the ground in Ukraine and seeing that angers me. It really pisses me off because it's just irresponsible," he told AFP, asking for his surname to be withheld.

"We have many issues in the US. The war in Ukraine is not the reason those things are happening," he said, a message he hoped would be heard in his home state, the Republican-led South Carolina.

The United States has been Ukraine's biggest military backer since Russia invaded in February 2022, and President Volodymyr Zelensky said it would have lost the war without that support.

But in the US, 67 percent of Republicans believe Washington is doing too much to assist Kyiv –- compared to 11 percent of Democrats and 35 percent of independents –- according to a December 2024 Gallup poll.

One of Trump's first acts in power was to freeze international aid, with his allies hinting he should make support to Ukraine conditional on Kyiv entering peace talks.

- Small-town bubble -

Tracey once held such views.

He said podcasters like Lex Fridman had convinced him that Russia invaded out of self-defence, and he believed the Kremlin's narrative that Kyiv was threatening Moscow by moving closer to the West.  

That rationale crumbled in January 2024 when Tracey watched "20 Days in Mariupol", a documentary about Russia's ruthless siege on the southern Ukrainian city.

"Seeing women and children suffer and just hearing those screams. It sticks with you. And that is stronger than any narrative," he said.

The next day he got a bus to Ukraine from Poland, where he was travelling, and joined the International Legion of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, a unit for foreigners.

Tracey did not vote in 2024 but he understood why people were drawn to Republican messages.

"These are people I love, people I grew up with. They are small-town people that grew up in villages like the ones we're fighting in down here," he told AFP.

"I understand that if I was inside that bubble, I would believe it as well."

- 'Hit home' -

Trump supporter Ishman Martino, a former firefighter trained as a US army machine gunner, has been in the Ukrainian military for the last six months.

He once supported Joe Biden's policy of "feeding Ukraine with artillery shells, cannons and mortars and guns and money."

But now the 26-year-old -- sporting a tattoo of a Ukrainian trident on his neck and one of an Uncle Sam skeleton on his bicep -- said he backed Trump's approach.

"You don't end the war by supporting a war. Believe it or not, Trump is antiwar," he told AFP in an interview in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia.

"He said that other countries need to start picking up their slack with taking care of Ukraine, which is very true," he added.

Martino enlisted after he saw Russian missiles rip through a children's hospital in Kyiv, where he had travelled to try to repatriate the body of a friend killed fighting for Ukraine.

The patients reminded Martino of his little brother, who suffered from cancer as a child.

"It hit home, seeing the kids come out, still hooked up to an IV, getting chemo. That's when I was like -- alright I'm here to fight," he said.

- 'Country comes first' -

As he was fighting, hurricane Helene destroyed Martino's hometown.

He shared local anger at Biden's government, which was accused of abandoning the area, and felt guilty for failing to help, which motivated him to fight harder.

"Better send me to the trenches... so that I can feel decent about myself for not being at home," he said, describing his thoughts at the time.

Martino is now preparing to return to the US after hearing that his little brother has once again been diagnosed with cancer.

"My family does come first. In all honesty my country comes first too. But I did my time honourably," he said. 

He was confident about Ukraine's future, despite Trump's threats.

"Ukrainian people are very smart. I truly do believe that they will figure it out, even if we stopped aid now."

Tracey, on the other hand, does not think the US will cut support to Ukraine and plans to return to the front as soon as he heals from wounds he suffered in a drone attack.

"I've spilt blood in that black Donbas soil. Brothers have died on that soil," he said.

"Even though we're not Ukrainian by blood, we feel Ukrainian." 

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