๐‘ณ๐’†๐’” ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’‡๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’” ๐‘ท๐’†๐’“๐’…๐’–๐’” - ๐‘ด๐’–๐’“๐’‘๐’‰๐’š, ๐‘ผ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’„๐’๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•, ๐‘ผ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’„๐’๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐‘ณ๐’๐’„๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’

๐‘ณ๐’†๐’” ๐‘ฌ๐’๐’‡๐’‚๐’๐’•๐’” ๐‘ท๐’†๐’“๐’…๐’–๐’” - ๐‘ด๐’–๐’“๐’‘๐’‰๐’š, ๐‘ผ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’„๐’๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐‘ผ๐’๐’Š๐’•, ๐‘ผ๐’๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’„๐’๐’๐’”๐’†๐’… ๐‘ณ๐’๐’„๐’‚๐’•๐’Š๐’๐’

Murphy is a US Army veteran who served as an 11B Infantryman, completing a combat deployment to Afghanistan during his service.

โ€œMy story is a common story amongst people like us, you get out, you feel like life is stagnant, civilian world is kind of dull, you miss the environment. I watched the build-up in December, saw the Russian military build-up on the border and knew something was going to happen, it was pretty obvious to a lot of us.โ€

Murphy like many people around the world, watched as Russian troops, armor and air breached the Ukrainian border, social media allowing people to essentially watch in real time.

After sorting out personal affairs and preparation back home Murphy left the comfort of the United States, traveled to Ukraine and quickly joined a Territorial Defense Forces unit, a light infantry unit in Odesa.

โ€œI was with them for a short amount of time before I transferred to the unit Iโ€™m at now. Since the invasion Iโ€™ve been near Severodonetsk, in the Kherson Counteroffensive, Zaporizhzhia and Bakhmut.โ€

When asked what he thought the number one change in tactics is in the Russo-Ukraine War he said drones.
Drones, drones, drones.

In the beginning phases of the war infantry, armor and direct action backed by artillery was the primary form of combat. Now, static lines of defense are pulverized by artillery with slight gains on each side, with drones swarming the skies, targeting both individual soldiers, squads and enemy armor.

โ€œThereโ€™s almost this no manโ€™s land, grey zone area thatโ€™s just covered by drones. It makes assaulting and advancing almost impossible, to do an assault or raid you have to dodge snipers, mortars, FPV drones etc.โ€

โ€œHow do you push through these obstacles in order to carry out an attack?โ€ I asked.

Murphy and his companion both laughed โ€œBig a$$ balls,โ€ they laughed, โ€œyou really just have to have as many resources in place, drones, thermals, know when to move like at early late dusk, early dawn.โ€

โ€œDrones is definitely something we have to counter and itโ€™s becoming more and more difficult. Itโ€™s completely changed the game.โ€

โ€œIf I were to tell the world anything about this conflict itโ€™s to try and put the politics aside and just picture it as if it were your home. Itโ€™s just looking at it objectively.โ€