Cousin of US Vice President fought for Ukraine

Nate Vance, cousin of US Vice President JD Vance, volunteered to fight in the Ukrainian unit "Da Vinci's Wolves". 

Prior to this, he had served four years in the US Marine Corps, lived in Texas, and worked for an oil company. However, in March 2022, he decided to leave his comfortable life behind and travelled to Lviv, feeling that he was witnessing historic events.

In Lviv, he met a British volunteer who was looking for fighters for the Ukrainian army. Vance agreed without hesitation and was in the Donbas by June.

Marksmanship test and combat service

According to his comrades, the American immediately stood out among the recruits. «Он был старше нас. Мы пошли в тир, он взял автомат Калашникова без прицела и поставил мишень на 800 метров. Все смеялись, пока он не попал в цель пять раз подряд» (He was older than us. We went to the shooting range, he took an AK-47 without a scope and set a target at 800 metres. Everyone was laughing until he hit the target five times in a row), his comrade-in-arms, Dmytro, recalls.

Nate Vance served in the "Honour" company and earned the respect of his comrades due to his coolness under pressure. «Он прекрасный боец. Мы должны были погибнуть 15 раз — и 15 раз нам везло выжить» (He is a great fighter. We should have died 15 times — and 15 times we were lucky to survive), commander Serhiy Filimonov recalls.

Break with relative and disillusionment with politics

In January 2025, Nate Vance left military service, but he is not intending to stop supporting Ukraine. At the same time, he admitted that he is disappointed in the position of his cousin, who is against large-scale aid to Kyiv.

«Джей Ди — умный человек. Когда он критиковал поддержку Украины, я думал, что это просто политическая игра, попытка понравиться электорату. Но то, что они сделали с Зеленским, было ловушкой, абсолютной недоброчестностью» (JD is a smart person. When he criticised support for Ukraine, I thought it was just a political game, an attempt to please the electorate. But what they did to Zelensky was a trap, absolute bad faith), Vance stated.

He emphasised that family ties cannot make him stay silent. «То, что мы родственники, не означает, что я смирюсь с тем, что ты способствуешь убийству моих товарищей» (The fact that we are relatives does not mean that I will accept that you are facilitating the killing of my comrades), the former fighter added.