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Help protect the Chosen Company in Ukraine

5 min read

To the editor:

As we approach the three-year mark of war in Ukraine, I want to provide an opportunity for our community to support the fight by raising funds to provide urgently needed safety equipment to one of the most deeply respected foreign units in the Armed Forces of Ukraine known as Chosen Company.

I first learned about Chosen Company from American soldier Jeremy Michael Miller, callsign Tennessee — a U.S. national firefighter from Fort Myers Beach who I am very grateful to report was recently pardoned by President Trump for his participation in the J6 protests.

“It was my honor to uphold the spirit of insurrection, of rebellion, of spitting in the face of tyranny, as our founders would have done,” Tennessee told me.

But for his brothers a far darker chapter lay ahead. In holding the frontline under nonstop enemy fire, Chosen Company engages in trench warfare with limited tactical resources, which is why I want to help equip them with protective gear.

Chosen is a storm unit led by Commander Ryan o’ Leary, a U.S. combat veteran and political figure whose ideas offer insight to a variety of issues such as command, manpower, and transparency in Ukraine’s military, as well as my shared position that arming Ukraine with increased weapons capability is by far the best option to end the war. (Which, by the way, out of the estimated $200 billion appropriated, the U.S. has only provided less than a $40 billion value in artillery and munitions deliveries, a rate which military budget analysts say could easily be tripled).

The Commander’s leadership is a big source of inspiration for me — he defends his principles on the world stage, fought in three wars, including GWOT in Afghanistan and Iraq, then with the Kurds against ISIS and Iran, and then briefly ran for Congress before he left to fight against Russia, and in the beginning of the war defended Kyiv -where I have family — and helped form Chosen Company as an offshoot of the 312th Swedish Volunteer Company, where the bros engaged in historic battles in Pervomaisk as well as Avdiivka in which they gained back territory that was held by Russia since 2014.

But now Chosen Company is being politically targeted by the Kremlin, which desperately — though unsuccessfully — attempts to subvert our international community’s solidarity with this renown military unit. Earlier this January, Russia’s terrorist regime issued a warrant for Commander O’ Leary’s arrest on blatantly false charges which paint him as a mercenary and terrorist, almost as if it were one of war criminal Vladimir Putin’s most pressing political priorities amid the heightened tensions of the U.S. admin shift.

It is hard to say what the Chosen derangement syndrome coming out of the Kremlin signals more… Russia’s fear, or Chosen’s threat. And as with most Russian propaganda, the Kremlin’s delusional fabrications make zero logical sense. How can someone be a terrorist, whose lifelong actions have strived to fight war and terror?

Chosen Company are not mercenaries, please do not call them that. They are foreign soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who did not need government orders to go to the ends of Earth to defend freedom and humanity.

Honestly, seeing the persecution and attacks that Chosen Company constantly endures empowers me to be a stronger person and be more grateful for my peaceful life.

Chosen’s Canadian brother Wayne Hallat, callsign Dirty P, described on Funker530 the horrific execution of U.S. combat vet and Chosen brother Dalton J. Medlin, callsign Gimly, who Dirty P says “was very obviously an American Soldier, he had an American flag patch obviously, you know, Texas patch, and the Russians removed his kit, and executed him.”

The enemy Russian state systemically aims to seed hatred toward Americans, and the combat soldiers are at greatest risk.

Gator, another American Chosen brother from Fort Lauderdale who plans to go back to war soon, wrote to me on social media, “We’re all terrorists and criminals in their eyes.”

Americans need to be informed because enemy Russia’s targeting of Chosen Company is not just an attack on Americans… it is an attack on all freedom-loving people everywhere.

The U.S. must take a stronger stance against Russia’s brutal mass murder campaign against our Ukrainian allies and our brothers who support them. I immediately call on President Trump, Sec. Rubio, and Congress to officially designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.

Chosen Company is incredibly humble, and they would’ve never asked me to write this, in fact, I requested permission from the unit and they told me it would be their honor. Thank you Chosen Company for fighting war so our children won’t have to.

I know that many of us back home hope and pray for our warriors’ safety and want to stand with Chosen Company, so I’m launching this initiative to help their military gear fund. The goal is to raise $3,000 before springtime to equip at least one of their trucks with an EW system, also known as a “Drone Jammer.”

This portable jamming device is installed on their trucks so as the unit penetrates the frontlines, it drowns out the electromagnetic fields in which enemy drones use to make overhead attacks. This non-lethal yet lifesaving equipment should be on every single one of Chosen Company’s trucks!

All donations, small and large, are greatly appreciated and are made directly through the Company Commanders’ military fund at paypal.com/paypalme/ChosenCo2023, where you can also leave a personal note for the guys. Locals and organizations who are interested in becoming patron supporters of Chosen Company and wish to talk with me or, permitting availability, a soldier of Chosen Company, can write to me at alexzpublicrelations@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support.

Alexandra Zakhvatayev

Cape Coral