US Army Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets, have had a profound impact on Ukraine’s struggle to defend against a Russian invasion, despite not being directly involved in the conflict. .

“Ukraine has been taken very seriously by special forces,” retired Green Beret Sergeant Major Martin Moore told Fox News Digital.

After Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, a move that met with minimal resistance, the Ukrainian military began an effort to modernize its forces to prepare for possible further Russian incursions into the country. The U.S. military also moved quickly to help, with the Army Green Berets taking on a vital role in training Ukrainian forces.

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“They immediately undertook a big effort to protect Ukraine, to provide training,” Moore said. “There is no one better at training than Green Berets. They are people who can teach.”

As elite military units such as Navy SEAL teams attract attention, Army Green Berets are deployed across the world to help the military prepare for wars similar to the one currently unfolding. in Ukraine. This work is usually done low-key, which Moore said he prefers Green Berets.

“They’re doing something different,” Moore said. “They go where no one else is and find out what’s possible.”

Moore said the Green Berets are a “force multiplier”, enhancing the combat capability of the international forces they work with. He stressed that it was not about “raids and ambushes”, but about having an “unprecedented understanding of the place” they operate.

Green Berets US Army Special Forces Group soldier in action

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Green Berets are required to learn a foreign language as part of their training and are constantly trained in the political, economic and cultural complexities of the regions in which they are assigned to operate. This unique skill set allows them to team up with foreign forces to train and sometimes fight alongside them.

These skills have been put to good use in Ukraine since 2014, with Green Berets and Army National Guard members advising and training Ukrainian forces at the Yavoriv Combat Training Center in western Ukraine. Ukraine. This is the same facility that Russia attacked with rockets on March 13, killing 35 people. The Americans had already left, leaving the facility and moving the troops deployed there to Germany in February.

Part of the Green Berets’ job in Yavoriv was to train their Ukrainian counterparts to field militia units capable of conducting guerrilla warfare against an invading force. The Ukrainian military can now put these lessons to good use, with the government actively encouraging its citizens to join the fight against Russian forces.

Civilians practice moving in a group during a military training exercise
(Alexey Furman/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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But the work the Green Berets are doing in Europe has not stopped, with forces still stationed in Europe to help prepare partner nations for the possibility of a Russian invasion further into Europe. Such a move would be a mistake for Russia, Moore told Fox News Digital, saying the invasion of Ukraine has already gone badly partly because of US aid, and that a further advance on NATO territory would be even worse.

“Russia has a horrible thing waiting for them if they want to take this thing any further,” Moore said.