'Outnumbered' on 40-mile Russian military convoy closing in on Kyiv
Fox News' Trey Yingst reports the latest from Kyiv and 'Outnumbered' panel discusses escalating Russian attacks on major cities in Ukraine.
John Wayne Troxell, former Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman (SEAC) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (retired), said that former members of the Ukrainian military he knows well — men who have rejoined the military there now, in order to help fight against the Russian invasion — are "unflappable" in the face of attacks.
"The other day I talked to my friend ‘L,’" Troxell told Fox News Digital this week, referencing one of the individuals he got to know years ago and has maintained a friendship with to this day.
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"He and his band of other former soldiers — they all had their AK-47s and they all had smiles on their faces. In the face of this Russian attack, they are just unflappable" in standing up for their country's independence, said Troxell.
"They are not going down without a fight."
As they fight for their land and stand up to the Russians with fierce pride, "the Ukrainian military leadership and its citizens are showing the world what resolve in the face of a tyrannical bully is," said Troxell.
Ukrainian emergency service personnel and servicemen stand around a body of a victim following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets. Casualties mounted; reports emerged that over 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery hit a military base in Okhtyrka, between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)
"This is what countries do when their existentialism is in question — and certainly, the Russians want to eliminate Ukraine."
He added, "These men are standing with dignity and honor, and continuing to keep after it."
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Troxell also said somberly, "In the end, the sheer numbers of the Russian forces may overtake them. But they are not going down without a fight — and certainly, my friends ‘A’ and ‘L’ are not going down without a fight. They are staying in it."
A man leaves a vehicle damaged by shelling in Brovary, outside Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russian shelling pounded civilian targets in Ukraine's second-largest city again Tuesday and a 40-mile convoy of tanks and other vehicles threatened the capital — tactics Ukraine's embattled president said were designed to force him into concessions. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
He noted that "they want me to continue getting their story out. That's why I'm posting screenshots of my conversations with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram."
Troxell explained that when he retired two years ago, "I was the senior enlisted individual at the Department of Defense, and my goal was to provide the pulse of the force to [Joseph Francis] Dunford, the chairman [from Oct. 1, 2015-Sept. 30, 2019], and the Secretary of Defense, whomever that person was at the time — and for two years [from Jan. 2017-Jan. 2019], it was Sec. James Mattis," he said.
But also, "my goal was to build a global network of senior enlisted individuals that could share best practices" and much more, said Troxell.
As a result, said Troxell, he did a great deal of traveling overseas.
"I went to Ukraine twice and my counterpart there, who was still the senior enlisted person in Ukrainian military — he and I became very close," and have stayed in touch, he said.
Members of the territorial defense battalion organize a military redoubt on Feb. 25, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. On Feb. 24, Russia began a large-scale attack on Ukraine, with Russian troops invading the country from the north, east and south, accompanied by air strikes and shelling. The Ukrainian president said that at least 137 Ukrainian soldiers were killed by the end of the first day. (Photo by Anastasia Vlasova/Getty Images)
The man even attended "my retirement ceremony," said Troxell, "so I've kept in touch with him, and there's another friend of mine there as well."
That second man, said Troxell, had already retired.
But given the Russian invasion, "he's now taken up arms to fight against the Russians. What they want, and what they continue to tell me as we communicate," added Troxell, "is that they are taking the fight to the Russians, and they are bogging the Russians down, although the Russians are continuing to advance because of their sheer numbers and firepower."
Refugees from Ukraine arrive at the border crossing Vysne Nemecke, Slovakia, on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Still, what he hears from his two good friends, Troxell emphasized — "men who I call my brothers — is the same thing you hear publicly from President Volodymr Zelenskyy, and from members of the Ukrainian Parliament as well. And that is that they are going to stand and fight — and not once have either of these gentlemen, during my calls with them or my texts with them, wavered in any way about standing firm against this existential threat from Russia."
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And yes, he said: These brave Ukrainians — "hardened military men" who are fighting for their country's existence — know that any day now, "this might be their last night on earth."
A Ukrainian soldier shows a grenade, near burning military trucks in a street in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sat., Feb. 26, 2022. Russian troops stormed toward Ukraine's capital Saturday, and street fighting broke out as city officials urged residents to take shelter. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
But they are not giving up the fight, no matter how hard the days and nights are for them.
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One of the friends also told him, said Troxell: "Tell the world we are a great people. We are just in a sh---- situation."
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