Fallout of War: Ukraine Year Three

The war ground into its third year and Lieutenant Commander James Fairbanks now coordinated drone operations that shape battlefield outcomes across southern Ukraine.

His team, eight Ukrainian specialists and one increasingly assimilated American, has evolved beyond its original mission into something the military doesn’t quite have terminology for. They operate in gaps between established structures.

They call themselves the Berkut Brigade with dark humor, fully aware they’re not actually a special operations brigade. There are eight individuals who discovered that survival depends more on the person beside you than the weapon in your hand. They’ve built something in the wreckage of their previous lives, glued together through shared purpose and trust that only emerges from repeated exposure to death.

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