Who is this guy?
Brent Reynolds
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/as-russian-military-encircles-kyiv-an-american-businessman-decides-to-stay/ar-AAUEKKh
As Russian military encircles Kyiv, an American businessman decides to stay
By Bob Ortega, CNN - 1h ago
Reynolds, 63, had just spent three days trying to join Kyiv's defense as a foreign volunteer.
"I was tired of sitting on Pushkinskaya and having a latte and waiting for the Russians, so I went out to the local and national police headquarters," he said. "I stood in line for seven hours for a Kalashnikov. I couldn't get one. I went out again the next day during curfew and tried to get one and I couldn't. They told me to go home."
On February 27, as a 40-mile-long column of Russian tanks, armored vehicles and artillery began making its way from Belarus toward Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for volunteers from around the world to help defend the country from the Russian invasion. By March 3, Zelensky said in a video address on Facebook, "Ukraine is already greeting foreign volunteers. (The) first 16,000 are already on their way to protect freedom and life for us, and for all."
Where volunteers are coming from, and how many have arrived, couldn't immediately be independently confirmed. Ukrainian officials have invited volunteers with previous military and combat experience or who want to gain such experience. The Russian Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Thursday foreign "mercenaries sent by the West" would not be considered lawful combatants and would not have the right to prisoner-of-war status.
The U.S. State Department has repeatedly told Americans not to go to Ukraine; Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday Americans who want to help should focus on providing assistance through humanitarian assistance organizations.
Ukraine legalized the service of foreigners in its military in October 2015, after Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine and then backed separatist groups in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine's Donbas region. Those who join are given an expedited path to Ukrainian citizenship.
Between then and the beginning of this year, only a small number of Americans have been among the thousands of foreigners who have served with the Ukrainian military and fought in the breakaway regions, according to military analysts.