Kathrine Frich
Ukraine’s battlefield success has often been explained through weapons deliveries and foreign aid. But some observers say the real advantage lies elsewhere.
According to a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who has worked closely with Ukrainian troops, the war has revealed a way of fighting that even the world’s richest armies struggle to match.
Early encounters
Troy Smothers, a U.S. Marine veteran, told Business Insider that his first exposure to Ukrainian soldiers dates back to 2005, when he was deployed to Odesa as a corporal.
At the time, he and around 100 American Marines trained Ukrainian counterparts in movement under fire, amphibious operations and artillery coordination.
Smothers recalled that Ukraine’s military thinking was then still shaped by Soviet doctrine, focused on mass assaults and high casualties. Even so, he said he noticed a distinctive mindset that has since become central to Ukraine’s strength.
“Twenty years ago, I saw in them the same attitude that is the key to their success today. I was only in Ukraine for a few weeks, but the joint training left a very strong impression,” Smothers said.
Making do
Smothers said Ukraine’s much smaller military budget, compared with NATO countries, has forced its forces to seek cheap but effective solutions.
“Ukrainians work with what they have. It’s an attitude – if this is all we have, then we will make it work,” he said.
While Ukraine now receives modern Western equipment, Smothers argued that hardware alone does not decide the war. Adaptability, he said, remains decisive.
Learning by fixing
Smothers currently runs the nonprofit American Made Freedom, which supports Ukrainian troops with fiber-optic drones. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, he has traveled to Ukraine several times.
He said the U.S. military operates very differently. “If something breaks in the U.S., we order a spare part or simply replace the device. In Ukraine, people take it apart and fix it,” he told Business Insider.
“Due to lower wages, they are used to repairing electronics and household appliances themselves. If a phone breaks, they open it and start soldering,” he added.
Improvised weapons
This “do-it-yourself” culture, Smothers said, has helped Ukrainians turn civilian drones into effective weapons.
He pointed to so-called “whiskers” – stiff copper wires attached to FPV drones that trigger detonation on contact – combined with 3D-printed safety pins removed at launch.
Similar assessments have been made by former U.S. Marine sniper Matthew Sampson, who served in Ukraine’s International Legion and said the war differs sharply from Iraq and Afghanistan, with Ukrainian tactics often proving more rational than Western doctrine.
Sources: Business Insider, LA.lv.
