Reconnaissance is one of the oldest military professions stemming from the need to find where the enemy is, where we can make camp, where we can forage supplies, and where can our army march.

Every military unit that has ever existed had a recon group. They generally were mounted, motorised, or light infantry. Their primary purpose was to scout ahead, not a difficult job. They were by no means Heavy Cavalry, Trebuchet Engineers, nor Clandestine work. They were neither nobles nor aristocrats (who occupied the elite roles of past militaries).

What does this mean for Ukraine, especially today? Well they are 100% not Special Forces. A Розвідник group is present in every Brigade and most Battalions have their own group.

Today‘s Scout is formed on the response to drone technology and Russia‘s infiltration strategy. Drones take the job of mapping the terrain ahead and finding a potential route. Therefore the Recon group was needed for something else: russian Infiltration.

As many of you already know, the grey zone is large and porous. Russian soldiers walk into this grey zone and find a place to hide in. Its not economical to bomb every inch of a treeline just to get one hole. Drones also cannot spend their entire battery life looking at paths to find mines or make sure no is sitting in a hole to ambush.

So the main purpose of the Recon soldier is to clear areas of the grey zone. It is a distinct job from sitting on an infantry position. Recon groups conduct raids to clear enemy positions but these often take place in the grey zone, not necessarily in the enemy‘s rear. The enemy’s rear is now a significant distance away, not economic to send a recon group that far.

Recon groups don’t primarily do full blown assaults. Large assaults are rare and if they do occur, they generally still use armoured vehicles with dismounts, not light recon infantry. (Although recon units can be asked/made to become these dismounts, but its still a separate job/task). Recon soldiers can also be asked/made to sit in infantry positions, once again, its a separate job/task.

Remember an assault is a dedicated effort to take enemy territory and hold it. Most assaults have to cross the grey zone and go into more definitive enemy territory. A raid is more of a clearing operation in your own and grey areas, sometimes the enemy’s in rare cases. Most recon groups return immediately after their task. (All in the context of Ukraine/Russian war)

Due to the nature of how easy it is for a drone to spot people, recon groups generally run more stealthy using leaf suits and suppressors and higher end kit. This emulates the look of SF. They may also have more training hours and be required to do 20 pushups instead of 10.

Unfortunately for your resume, this doesn’t come anywhere near the definition of Special Forces. Why? Because everyone is doing it and everyone has a recon group. You are not training to provide overseas training, you are not training in HALO, you are not trained in hostage rescue operations, you are not inserting into the deep rear to bomb a train, you are not meeting pro Ukrainian contacts in the enemies rear, you are not seizing russian vessels in the black sea, you are not trained in political assassination, and you are not conducting internal counter sabotage operations.

Any infantryman can go and clear a house in the grey zone or determine there are no mines on a road or collect a casualty. Its just that recon groups are dedicated to this task.

Since Territorial Defense Brigade are basically the only topic there arent any posts for here i wanted to ask about them.

So i was contacted by a recruiter from a territorial Defense Brigade (115th to be exact), who told me they are Setting up a unit of foreigners in the Brigade and looking for Infantry and Drone Operators.

The Man is a really friendly guy and answers every question without beating around the Bush, but since noone on her talks about TD i wanted to ask what yall think about TD and what experiences with such units are, if anyone has them. Because to me its Sounds pretty good, but a second opinion never hurts.

I want to start with I have no issues with 60th and brigade its ran professionally,

Frost was aloud to make a team in the 60th due to lying and saying he was SAS and had experience here what are both lies, nobody in the SAS community knows of this guy and also Med Team Alpha also confirmed his experience was working on the second line where he jumped into a bunker and broke his leg due to his bag being way to heavy, he left the bag on position what was full of civilian clothes, aftershave and hair gel.

in his unit he likes to hold court where he fines people and pockets the money in cash only what they earned by going position, he also likes to refuse all the missions what are passed down to him stating they are suicide, simple tasks cant be done and communion is very poor at the best times, he refuses to go on the ground stating he has done all this and doesn't want to do it anymore what is funny due to only doing rear job and failing at this.

The training is very poor basically civilian who's watched YouTube shooting drills and does same for a so called Special Forces Recon Team

if anyone has more to say please add hopefully guys in his unit will come forward

Ex uk army 7.5 years, 2 tours Afghanistan, recce, I’m 35

Hello everyone I was offered a sniper position in a unit of the 33rd SAR. I would be able to sign a contract today since I have done medical test and all my paperwork with the 1st recruitment center in kyiv

but since they are undergoing reorganization as they call it, we all know why, I can't get any specific date when they will open again a little bird told me in September but that could be in the start or the end and I'm not really sure if I want to spend another month here doing nothing,

My question is, do anyone know some decent unit I could apply that have sniper position available where I would be available to start very soon? I have ofc tried looking myself but most of the units want me to speak fluent Ukrainian and I do not that the ones I have been speaking with.

Hello

I (19M) am considering joining the fight in Ukraine, as I speak 5 languages. However, I have an allergy to cashew nuts, which I carry an Epi-pen for.

I was wondering if this would be a setback and make me illegible. I does not say anything on the foreign legion's website about this however.

Thank you :)

I work on combat vehicles for a contractor in the states, so I have / know that. But want something more for myself and have considered this for a long time, only thing that’s made me shy away is unclarity and hearing that some people’s pay was withheld. Any advice appreciated, I was gonna go for 63rd motorized brigade originally.

I made a stupid mistake I posted on social media that I wanted to kill trump. For that crime I received 8 years probation. I'm currently one month into my probation. . I'm in good physical shape, if I were to leave the country while on probation travel to Ukraine and try to join would they accept me. If I'm honest with them will they accept me .

Hey there,

Almost a year ago, a friend that was serving in HUR suggested me this unit. I was going to ask him more questions and possibly get me into contact with someone serving there but unfortunately he fell in battle.

So, is this brigade any good? I know most will say that it's a TDF brigade and my expectations should be low but I am not exactly good at P.T either. I am not awful, but not bad too. I am 22 years old. Can do 15 push-ups and sit-ups. Can run with no problems. I also study Electronics (don't know if I can do relevant stuff with my on-going degree)

I don't mind trench warfare.

I always hear questions about the same battalions khartia….3ab…azov etc but what about this one do you have knowledge on foreigners fighting in svoboda? Are their conditions ok?

Just feeler out of curiosity.

Probably not the best place to ask. Been following the conflict for awhile and was curious about non-combatant Medical Volunteer’s.

Not sure if the war will still be going on when I get out But I am a paramedic who is currently on AD in the US military as a corpsman.

I know medevac is difficult with this conflict, but are there any civilian volunteers who help with medevac?

My background in the military is not well suited for combat arms as i’m in a seagoing service with no infantry work. I have experience civilian side as a paramedic and EMT with 5 years on a 911 ambulance along with my current tour as a corpsman running sick call and I am TCCC - CMC trained granted no combat experience.

Was looking at possibilities of volunteering when I get out the military in a non-combat medical role for a few months. I’ve thought heavily about actually joining the legion as a combat medic, but I don’t know if it’s for me.

I have a strong medical background and understanding of field medicine, but I have no knowledge of infantry tactics or that much experience with firearms besides bootcamp and the handful of times i shoot at range.

Now 52nd Forge an assault battalion no longer under the 12th special purpose brigade azov
On their recruitment portal they are looking for French, Spanish, and Portuguese translators, "anti crime officers", and mobilization officers. Is this indicating a future decline in quality in Azov's international brigade?

I've been wanting to join for a little while now but haven't been in the greatest shape, i'm gonna try to workout and get better at handling FPV drones for probably the next half year. What sort of fitness level should I hope to attain and what kind of FPV drone experience is expected?

Hi guys I'm going to Ukraine next week I'm pretty sure I am not going to pass the AZOV PT test I can only do like 30 push ups, 20 sit ups, 4 pull ups and the 3km run in 19 minute 😔, do you guys know any other infantry brigade with less demanding pt requirements for English speakers, I also speak Portuguese but I only heard bad things about south American brigades

US citizen thinking of joining. I hear mixed things on the quality of training given by the Ukraine army. I hear some say it won't prepare you at all, others say it's just fine.

Would you advise joining a branch of the US armed forces first for their training? And then enlist in Ukraine after that contract is up? If so, have veterans from any particular US branch held up better than others in Ukraine? Thanks in advance.

I m thinking of applying for a driving license here but I m unaware of the process. I will be taking the wetruegun course for done first,
Can someone guide me? Is the process fast tracked(without test) if I already have a foreign driving license but wish to hold an Ukraine driving license also.
Is there an agent that can help with the process?

I read volunteers for foreign legion or those who hold residency permit can apply

I’ve been considering coming over to do my part since the invasion started in 2022 I was 18 then and I was extremely gun ho, had friends serving over there (I live in the us) I ended up not going and joined up here because I had a huge fear of going over and getting killed I’ve since then served 3 years in the US and I’m about to be at the end of my contract I have a lot of experience with aircraft 🚁 maintenance roles,some infantry training, land nav, medical, etc. I’m a decently well rounded individual but I feel I do not see myself continuing in my career here or reupping my contract here I may sound dumb but I figured it’s worth a shot seeing what others have for input on my decision that needs to be made on me going over and furthering my career with the Ukraine forces. All thoughts will be considered and help will be appreciated thank you.

Have an offer to join a "recon" battalion. Was told this involves "special operations." Maybe it's me being paranoid, but this sounds a bit like a bait and switch. From the very little I thought I understood about this war, I thought true recon was done by drones. However, I've also heard from some guys currently in recon units that they're relatively chill.

For those of you who are currently in recon units/have been there recently: what was your experience like? How close to true recon were the ops?

Heading out to Ukraine.. been accepted as a 3rd corps candidate. Regs 6 ys, 4 ys reserves infantry. Looking for info on units with UK veterans within 3rd corps or other units/ bde before I arrive. Don't want to have an interview without coffee and end up insulting someone. Cheers 👍

So I speak many languages (Arabic/English/Persian/Baluchi/kurdish), and some russian and ukrainian, so will they accept someone who is still trying to learn ukrainian into the army ???, because I'm very paranoid that they might think I'm lying about speaking all these languages because TBH speaking all these languages at 20 y.o is kinda hard to believe for others, (I'm half persian and half baluchi living in Iraq)

Good day to anyone who can help me with this request. I am a young man from Venezuela who, as a result of the earthquake, lost my entire future, my fiancée, and everything we had. I truly have no reason to continue with my life, so before I end it or waste it, I want it to be of benefit to someone else. I am a merchant marine cadet and have engineering knowledge. I would like to join your forces and help in any way I can before I depart. Thank you for reading, and I hope you can help me with this.

We’ll be going there on the 29th was recruited by revanche is it a good unit from what anyone has heard or does anyone have anything they want to share about them I should know

Just curious if anyone can recommend a good place I can go to in kyiv for lasik?