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When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a 48-year-old American veteran and constructing contractor from Connecticut named James Vasquez was certainly one of hundreds of volunteers who went to affix the struggle.
He shortly grew to become one of the vital recognizable faces of the international fighters in Ukraine, typically going viral along with his battlefield updates and dramatic social-media posts purportedly from the entrance strains.
In his movies and posts, he bragged about capturing Russians and taking out tanks, was frequently interviewed by the information media, and made catchy claims together with that he imagined the “punchable” Tucker Carlson when making ready for battle.
He gained greater than 400,000 followers on Twitter and even obtained a shout-out from Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who referred to as for his account to be verified.
However on the bottom in Ukraine, it was an open secret that Vasquez was not the struggle hero his social-media profiles projected him to be.
4 international fighters and volunteers in Ukraine who knew Vasquez instructed Insider it was extensively recognized he wasn’t really collaborating in front-line preventing.
As an alternative, they allege that Vasquez would enter areas the place battles had taken place, take movies with destroyed gear, and declare battlefield achievements as his personal.
April Huggett, a Canadian volunteer who knew Vasquez, instructed Insider in a textual content message that he would exaggerate how near the motion he was, typically going to areas close to the place there was heavy preventing and pretending he was within the thick of it.
In a single occasion in January, Vasquez claimed on Twitter that he was heading to Soledar, the place intense preventing was reported to be raging.
However it was later revealed that the Ukrainian military had quietly withdrawn days earlier than Vasquez stated he was heading there — suggesting that there would have been no struggle for him to affix when he arrived.
Together with showing to magnify his actions on the bottom, there have been additionally events the place he appeared to behave outright irresponsibly.
He, at one level, posted a battlefield replace that gave away the precise location of the unit he was with, probably jeopardizing its security.
‘I needed to inform 1,000,000 lies to get forward’
Vasquez typically spoke about his navy background, claiming that he was a sergeant and that he had been in Kuwait throughout Operation Desert Storm and in Iraq after 9/11.
A Pentagon consultant, nevertheless, instructed Insider that Vasquez was by no means deployed to both of these locations — or wherever else.
Vasquez was a gas and electrical techniques repairer within the New York Nationwide Guard from July 1992 to July 1993 and within the Army Reserve from July 1993 to August 2003, the Pentagon stated. He left the Army Reserve as a personal top quality, which is likely one of the Army’s lowest ranks.
When confronted by The New York Occasions in March, Vasquez acknowledged misrepresenting his navy file and stated he’d been kicked out of the Army, however he wouldn’t reveal the circumstances of his discharge.
“I needed to inform 1,000,000 lies to get forward,” Vasquez instructed the Occasions. “I did not understand it was going to come back to this.”
Insider was unable to achieve Vasquez for remark, as his social-media profiles have been deactivated and calls to 2 cellphone numbers for him offered by sources went unanswered.
Within the days earlier than the Occasions article got here out, Vasquez posted a sequence of cryptic tweets about “unfavourable individuals” profitable and referred to as himself “a ghost.” He then deleted his Twitter web page and went quiet for a number of months earlier than resurfacing on-line briefly in June.
Not solely did he apparently lie about his navy background to affix the struggle in Ukraine, but it surely turned out he had lied about his service for a lot of his life to even these closest to him.
Tina Vasquez, his ex-wife, who had supported his resolution to go to Ukraine whereas they had been nonetheless married, instructed The New York Put up in April that he had additionally lied to her about his previous.
She instructed the paper that she “was simply as shocked as anyone else” to study that her former associate had exaggerated his navy expertise.
“I believed him,” she stated. “The struggle tales that had supposedly occurred introduced tears to his eyes. I felt horrible for what he needed to undergo and endure — after which come to seek out out it was all only a lie.
“Right here I’m, I am with him for 11 years and I do not even know the person I married.”
The undoing of a struggle hero
Vasquez spent a few 12 months posting updates — purportedly from the entrance strains in Ukraine — about preventing with varied models.
Sarah Ashton-Cirillo, American who’s a junior sergeant with the Ukrainian military and works with the media division of the Territorial Protection Forces, was one of many first individuals with a social-media following to publicly accuse Vasquez of being a fraud in a tweet in March.
She wrote that Vasquez “will not be and has not been” in Ukraine’s armed forces and that he couldn’t legally go on missions since he didn’t have a contract.
“I met James Vasquez thrice for a complete of about 4 hours,” she instructed Insider. “Throughout our final assembly, within the presence of one other particular person, he gave himself up and confirmed what I had recognized since final summer season, that he was by no means a member of the AFU,” referring to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“That night time he acknowledged clearly he by no means had a contract nor had he ever been paid. This was in January. It was the final time I noticed him.”
April Huggett, 35, a Canadian volunteer who got here to Ukraine in December, instructed Insider that she quickly met Vasquez and the 2 shaped a relationship.
Huggett stated that she got here to Ukraine alone, having damaged up along with her boyfriend over her resolution to go, and located consolation in having Vasquez as somebody to speak to.
“I did understand in a short time he was sitting cozy proper in Maidan and he was not leaving Kyiv fairly often,” she instructed Insider over textual content, referring to the capital metropolis’s central district.
“He additionally drank a lot,” she stated.
Huggett stated she started to have suspicions about his claims about his navy background, and after performing some digging, found that he had wildly exaggerated his expertise.
“One time he was actually drunk and he was crying actually onerous about this buddy of his that had his head blown off by a sniper in entrance of him in Iraq and the way that basically messed him up,” she stated. “I noticed that story by no means may have occurred.”
She and different sources instructed Insider that Vasquez brazenly bragged about his plans to money in on his newfound fame.
“James simply saved speaking about changing into a millionaire after this,” Huggett stated.
Tim, an American man working with the Ukrainian military and talking to Insider on the situation of withholding his final title, stated that Vasquez had made related feedback to him.
“James stated, and I quote, ‘I am by no means gonna return to work as a handyman. I am most likely by no means gonna need to work once more after this struggle. I am gonna be well-known,'” he instructed Insider.
Amongst all of the falsehoods, Huggett stated that what was most upsetting to her was how Vasquez leveraged the fight loss of life of the Ukrainian-born British fighter Viktor Yatsunyk for private achieve, talking extensively on-line and to the media about how the lack of his “buddy” had affected him.
“He used Viktor’s loss of life as one other stepping stone to legitimize his personal actions in Ukraine. That bothers me greater than the rest,” she stated. “His stolen valor is aware of no finish.”
Finally, Huggett determined to distance herself from Vasquez — as she defined to Insider, she does not like “liars.”
When Ashton-Cirillo took to Twitter to reveal Vasquez, Huggett stated she felt compelled to make a video to again her up.
Huggett stated she was frightened about angering Vasquez and started to concern for her security.
“I obtained a cellphone name from a buddy of James’ that was involved. He instructed me to look at my again and that James was consuming lots and speaking loopy. That he was [going] to kill me and one other buddy of mine,” she stated.
“James messaged me saying I did not have to go away my youngsters, I deserted him, and he was going to do the identical factor to me that I did to him and to ‘prepare,'” she stated, including that she has since been laying low in Ukraine and attempting to maintain him from realizing her whereabouts.
After his social-media accounts had been deactivated, Vasquez briefly resurfaced on Twitter in June to assault Huggett and preemptively discredit something she may say about him.
“I’ve obtained plenty of messages @DefactoHumanity, or as I do know her, April has gone on a marketing campaign accusing me of going to kill her and different nonsense,” he wrote.
He went on to say that Huggett was merely “scorned” as a result of she had discovered he was with one other lady in Ukraine and denied ever threatening her life.
Huggett instructed Insider: “I am drained, however I am not sorry I uncovered the mendacity scammer. I am additionally not sorry that I made the video. Now at the least if I’m murdered or have a suspicious loss of life, somebody will know the place to look.”
“We took away his fame and fortune, we made individuals see him for the shame he’s. Ukrainians can be higher off due to it, and to me, that’s the solely factor that issues,” she stated.
On an “superior very harmful trip”
Originally of the struggle, the vetting course of for international fighters coming to Ukraine was extraordinarily lax. Vasquez, as a part of the primary wave of arrivals, was in a position to benefit from the system and slip by way of the cracks.
Though many international volunteers in Ukraine have made a big contribution to its struggle effort, many retailers have reported on underqualified and overzealous foreigners who’ve wreaked havoc, together with an American who defected to Russia.
A few of them have been referred to as struggle vacationers, a time period to explain thrill seekers in a struggle zone.
In a single tweet from March of final 12 months, Vasquez in contrast his time in Ukraine to being an “superior very harmful trip.”
He additionally repeatedly steered that he didn’t perceive the foundations of warfare, or at the least that he thought they didn’t apply to him.
On one event, he claimed to have taken half in capturing a soldier from the mercenary Wagner Group and shared a photograph of him.
“This can be a non UN nation,” he wrote in a tweet in response. “I do not suppose I’ve to fret concerning the Geneva conference right here.”
However Vasquez’s claims weren’t correct – Ukraine is a part of the United Nations, and the Geneva Conventions, which defend prisoners of struggle, apply to all conflicts.
He ‘had a plan, a scheme, and a design’
Tim, an American recognized on-line as Captain Peg Leg, instructed Insider that he got here throughout Vasquez whereas working in Ukraine as a basic advisor to the armed forces.
He stated that the pair communicated by way of textual content for a number of weeks in April and Might of final 12 months till Vasquez blocked him.
Tim stated that he was working with Ukraine’s Territorial Protection Forces on the time and had been tasked with recruiting succesful international fighters to assist practice them. He reached out to Vasquez, who had developed fairly a big on-line following.
As they corresponded, Tim stated he began to note a number of crimson flags.
He claims that Vasquez boasted about his on-line fame and having Ukrainian troopers comply with him and stated that he was constructing his personal “personal military.”
Tim additionally claims Vasquez admitted that he had exaggerated his military credentials and stated he deliberate to money in on his wartime fame.
He was unable to supply screenshots of the conversations with Vasquez as he stated the chat historical past on his cellphone had been deleted. Nevertheless, one other supply confirmed Insider screenshots of a dialog with Tim in June 2022 during which the 2 mentioned Vasquez being a fraud.
Tim stated he was additionally alarmed by the movies Vasquez was posting, which he stated had been “doubtful” and reckless.
He stated that he tried to sound the alarm about Vasquez on Twitter however was met with loss of life threats from Vasquez’s followers, who instructed Tim he was simply “jealous.”
He stated that plenty of the aggression was led by Vasquez himself.
“James routinely went scorched earth on anybody that questioned something he was doing, blocked them, inspired his followers to dam them. And no person needed to imagine that James would benefit from the struggle and benefit from individuals,” Tim stated.
“You’ll hear individuals say that James is an efficient man, James had good intentions, and issues obtained a bit uncontrolled. And that is categorically false. James, from the beginning of that battle, had a plan, a scheme, and a design. It was premeditated,” he stated.
Regardless of a rising mountain of falsehoods, Vasquez was in a position to turn out to be a celebrated social-media hero and was coated breathlessly by varied media shops — together with Insider — that touted him as a hero.
He was framed as a fearless fighter who had selflessly left his life behind and bought his Connecticut residence to give attention to the struggle.
Ashton-Cirillo instructed Insider: “As somebody who notified a big media outlet about James Vasquez in June of 2022 and acknowledged to them clearly that Vasquez had no fight expertise and was filming pretend struggle scenes, it’s disgraceful that they and so many different journalists superior his lies for thus lengthy.”
“These acts of media malpractice not solely gaslit me and lots of others, they helped feed the Russian propaganda machine,” she continued. “Fortunately, fundraising for charities targeted on the Armed Forces of Ukraine has been in a position to emerge unscathed from this debacle as have the reputations of each actual international soldier.”
Weapons, cash, and battalions
Vasquez often posted pictures of weapons, together with American weapons, that he stated he had been given, however it’s unclear the place he obtained them.
He didn’t have a contract with the Ukrainian military or the Worldwide Legion so he would not have been supplied with weapons from any official authorities.
When requested by The New York Occasions in March the place he obtained the weapons, he responded: “I am not precisely positive,” and added that they had been “brand-new, out of the field, and we’ve got loads.”
Two sources instructed Insider that Vasquez had boasted about getting weapons on the black market. Insider was unable to confirm these claims.
(He as soon as instructed an area Connecticut newspaper, The Hour: “In order for you something in Ukraine, and you bought cash and you understand a few individuals, you will get it.”)
One other supply of rivalry is how Vasquez used his platform to solicit donations from his followers to purchase gear for troopers. A few of this cash was raised for Ripley’s Heroes, a US-based charity group for which he was a distinguished consultant.
Ripley’s Heroes stated it had raised over $1 million over the previous 12 months, however the group has confronted questions on its spending, as The New York Occasions beforehand reported. As of March, a number of the cash appeared to have been spent on gear that hadn’t reached its meant vacation spot.
Vasquez typically talked about preventing with varied models — at one level, he stated he was with a “particular forces unit” and later stated he was preventing with the Da Vinci Wolves battalion.
John, not his actual title, an American man who’s a part of a gaggle preventing in Ukraine referred to as the thirteenth group Wolverines, instructed Insider beneath the situation of anonymity that Vasquez seemingly overstated his relationship with the battalion.
John, who has been in Ukraine for the reason that wider battle with Russia started in 2014, stated that he had been pleasant with Da Vinci for a while. He instructed Insider that he noticed Vasquez on the younger battalion commander’s funeral, which was attended by many, together with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
John stated that Vasquez, who was carrying a Da Vinci Wolves patch on his uniform, caught out like a sore thumb: He did not mingle with the opposite attendees however as a substitute filmed himself for a video that was later posted on social media.
“All people’s kneeling, their palms over their hearts, you understand, to indicate respect and solidarity with one another in grief … and James is up there simply filming,” John stated. “All these guys from Da Vinci’s workforce are round they usually’re carrying the identical patch proper, however no person acknowledges him. No one comes up and says hello.”
The Wolves didn’t reply to Insider’s request for remark.
A supply linked to the Ukrainian military, talking on the situation of anonymity, instructed Insider that Vasquez had returned to Ukraine as of early June.
“The Nationwide Police along side the SBU” — the Safety Service of Ukraine — “has launched an investigation into each his possession of unlawful weapons and his illicit fundraising,” the supply stated.
‘James’ visibility was nice, till it wasn’t anymore’
For a lot of international fighters, becoming a member of the struggle is usually a likelihood to reinvent, redeem, or show themselves.
“You see, again and again, these damaged those that confirmed up on the struggle. They usually noticed it from day one as a possibility to have a brand new life to turn out to be a social-media hero, no matter you wish to name it,” Tim stated.
“I had my very own issues to achieve by going to Ukraine,” he added. “I am not innocent. I’ve one leg; it is a current amputation. And one of many causes that I went was to really feel like a complete human being once more by serving to different individuals.”
Malcolm Nance, a former MSNBC analyst who’s now a part of Ukraine’s Worldwide Legion, was the one distinguished international fighter to defend Vasquez after his falsehoods had been revealed.
“James was NOT pretend, he was troubled. He did lots for Ukraine however has challenges to face. Respect what he did do,” he wrote on Twitter.
He described Vasquez as “a soldier in want of care on a number of ranges” and criticized those that spoke out towards him. Nance declined to talk with Insider on the file.
A part of the talk is whether or not Vasquez did any good in Ukraine regardless of his lies.
Whereas sources instructed Insider that Vasquez didn’t assist when it comes to front-line preventing, his social-media presence did have a optimistic impact — at the least for a time.
“James actually helped with morale,” Tim stated. “James actually helped with public relations. He did, inadvertently, plenty of good. James’ visibility was nice, till it wasn’t anymore.”
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