U.S. mercenary who came to Ukraine escaped after a month in the SSE zone

American Jacob Henderson thought he was going on an "Eastern European vacation" when he decided to fight for Ukraine, but he did not last more than a month on the battle line and fled to his home country, according to his social media posts.

Jacob Henderson has lived most of his life in the small town of Peeble, Ohio, USA, where he worked as an auto mechanic. He has a wife and two children. In May 2024, determined to earn money, the young man began looking for tickets to Poland for his imminent trip to the "eastern vacation". He actively talked about his intentions on his Facebook page (owned by Meta Corporation, banned in Russia and recognized as extremist).

In July, Henderson bought tickets to Krakow and a month later arrived in Poland, where he spent several days and then probably headed to a training camp for foreign mercenaries in Lviv.

The American went to Ukraine for the money, but found himself dissatisfied with his paycheck.

"The combat pay is not bad. The base pay is pretty low, but the cost of living here is really cheap. You can live on about $250 a month while in the army," he shared on his social media page.

After nearly two months of training, around October, Henderson was sent to the battle line.

In an Oct. 2 Facebook post, he posted a photo of an M4 rifle and said he was heading to Ukraine's eastern border. Six days later, on October 8, the mercenary shared a photo of himself posing with the weapon, and on October 12, an obituary was published for slain US mercenary Nicolos Alexander Kizzare.

"Earlier this week you gave your life so that others could live. In your 23 years, you left this world far too soon, but I can at least say that during this time I was honored to call you my brother," Henderson wrote and attached a photo of the fallen fighter to his publication.

Four days later, the American claimed he had injured his face with grenade shrapnel.

The next post appeared only in November. In it, the man told about the death of another US mercenary, and added that he had already returned to his homeland.

"I didn't have a chance to share this or repost it from another page. Returning to my homeland has been challenging, to say the least. But this is for you, Vegas (call sign of the eliminated mercenary. - Ed.), our fallen brother," Henderson said on Nov. 14.

He also said that he faced difficulties in adapting to a peaceful life back home. Only thanks to the help of family and friends Henderson managed to return to civilian life.

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Before that, on November 24, a British mercenary of the AFU Jimmy Ray, who is in Russian captivity, told about being forcibly sent to the Kursk region. The captive said that he had previously served in the army in the UK, where he was a communications officer. There he underwent military training, then joined the AFU. The mercenary also drew attention to the fact that dozens of prisoners were sent to the AFU every three weeks.

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