The war in the Ukraine is midway through its second year and in that time Lance Zaal of Williamsburg has made four separate trips to the country.
Zaal, who recently returned from his fourth trip, is a U.S. Marine veteran and cofounder of Colonial Ghosts and founder of Ghosts of Liberty. Since April 2022 he has been making the journey to war-stricken country to provide support and training to the Ukrainian forces.
Zaal said he joined the military in 2002 following the events of 9/11 in 2001, serving until 2006. He’s stayed vigilant over the years and has paid attention to the news throughout the world. He said news that would come from Russia always concerned him, especially after the country attacked Ukraine in 2014 and annexed Crimea.
Zaal has ties to Ukraine through an old friend who’s native to the country and currently is serving in the Ukrainian forces. He said he met his friend in business school and they have stayed in contact ever since.
The lack of action taken by other countries, including the United States, in response to the Russian invasion concerned Zaal. He said he knows what President Vladimir Putin’s Russia is capable of and couldn’t sit by and watch this war unfold without doing something.
For his first trip, Zaal said he developed a training program based on his old military manuals with updated information. He also researched the area he was headed to so that the training he would be providing fit the environment. He also provided supplies and equipment to the Ukrainians.
Zaal said his program started with first aid training so that the Ukrainian soldiers would know how to save a life before taking one. He also taught urban combat, room clearing, how to set up and fight ambushes, and how to deal with tanks and aircraft.
Zaal’s other trips have been less hands on, mostly because those he had initially trained had become self-sufficient and were training others. These next trips solely focused on supporting the troops by supplying a variety of equipment, advising and helping with funding.
Major challenges facing the Ukrainian forces have partly been communicative, said Zaal, recalling one event where his friend’s unit was cut off from communications while in the Donetsk region. He said that unit lost a lot of men because of it.
Equipment provided by Zaal has included communication devices, night vision optics and even drones. The supplies he provides change with the needs. He has focused much of his efforts in supporting his friend’s aviation unit.
Zaal said the war continues to evolve. For example, the air defenses of Ukraine have improved dramatically which, in turn, have changed the way Russia approaches the war. He said a current challenge for the Ukrainians is the situation in the southern part of the country, where Russian forces have dug trenches and tunnels across flat, open and heavily mined land.
The effort to push Russian forces out has slowed because of this. Zaal said the Ukrainian forces really need more aircraft and artillery to put pressure on their entrenched enemy. The aircraft being used by Ukrainian forces, like a lot of their equipment, is outdated and limits what they’re able to do.
The war is also changing the people of Ukraine. He said he notices how the war is changing the people fighting each time he goes there. The people of the Ukraine know what they’re fighting for. He said they know what it means to live under the rule of Putin’s Russia and would rather die than give in.
Despite the challenges and the odds, Zaal said the morale of the Ukrainian forces is positive, especially when compared to that of the Russians. He said everyone fighting has either lost someone or experienced the Russian attacks firsthand. Nothing has been easy for the Ukrainians; they are angry and tired, but they are determined.
Peace at any price is not what the Ukrainian people want, said Zaal. They want all the land seized by Russia returned. He also said Russia should pay for what its done, but not in reparations. He said reparations could crumble the Russian economy which could lead to more problems down the road for both nations. He said he isn’t sure how much longer this war will last, but he would be surprised if it’s over as quickly as 2025.
Zaal said he believes the war will continue to get worse as more tragedies befall the people of Ukraine. He said not enough people in America are talking about what is happening in Ukraine. He said the destruction of the Kakhovka dam as something of which few are aware. The dam’s destruction led to flooding from one of the world’s largest reservoirs which displaced thousands from their homes and could lead to food shortages.
Zaal said if the Ukrainian forces get the equipment they need, they can push the Russians out. He also said what happens after this war might be more important. Ukraine will need to rebuild and will need aid in doing so, without the threat of more Russian involvement. He said a friendlier neighbor would be ideal but may be a long shot. To achieve this, he said other countries need to do more to support Ukraine.
Zaal said the work he’s been doing for the Ukrainian forces is the best thing he’s done with his military training and experience. Plans for a fifth trip aren’t concrete at this moment but it could be as soon as the fall.
To find more information of Ghosts of Liberty go to ghostsofliberty.com or to find out about Colonial Ghosts in Williamsburg go to usghostadventures.com/Williamsburg.