Ryan Wesley Routh, the suspected assassin of President Trump, came to Ukraine last year hoping to exert influence against Russia, but was quickly rejected and chased away, called a “knockout” and “freak” by more serious foreign fighters in the country, multiple sources with knowledge of the volunteer effort said.
Some who had personal contact with him told The Washington Post they knew his “type” and were “not surprised at all.”
“He's a crazy idiot, but it doesn't surprise anyone. These people show up because they're desperate to help and to be important,” one American fighting for Ukraine told the Post, “and he was one of those people, just on the crazy side of things.”
American fighters and volunteers who spoke to The Washington Post requested anonymity for fear of their personal information being leaked by Russia.
Although the 58-year-old Routh had no military experience, he traveled to Ukraine around March 2023, believing he could help in the war effort anyway.
One volunteer told the Post that Routh's alleged use of a GoPro while staking out Trump was particularly illustrative of his troubling ties to Ukraine. “There are too many foreigners coming to Ukraine who are influence seekers,” he said.
“A lot of people here are not here for Ukraine, they're not here for the war, they're here because they want to be famous, they want to live a fantasy, they want to feel part of something, things like that,” the volunteer said.
“For them, Ukraine is like a chance to finally make it. Unfortunately, I don't think it will help the majority of them.”
When he was rejected by the Ukrainian Foreign Legion (which has recruited thousands of foreigners to fight for Ukraine), he decided to run a recruitment office alone, but even that effort drew scorn, sources told The Post.
But he Financial Times Last year, the International Legion of Ukraine rejected him because of his “advanced age” and lack of battlefield expertise, and instead offered him to help with “recruitment and coordination,” he said.
“I thought, 'Oh, that guy looks familiar,'” one volunteer said in a private chat group shared by The Washington Post. “He had a plan to move people from Afghanistan to Ukraine to fight.”
“I remember Ryan well… but not good memories,” another foreign volunteer wrote, attaching screenshots of a text conversation with the would-be assassin in which Routh boasted about “coming back” from Ukraine, attaching a selfie with a woman he believed to be his girlfriend, grinning and shirtless in a straw hat on a beach.
'Unbalanced and dangerous'
Rejected by Ukraine’s legitimate volunteer military groups, he launched a dubious scheme to “recruit” former Afghan special forces members who supported the U.S. during the 20-year Afghanistan war to arm in Ukraine, sources told The Post.
He posted about his ambitions on social media.
One fighter who has met Routh said he came across as “already very suspicious.”
“I ran into him once and felt he was erratic and dangerous,” the fighter said.
The Ukrainian Foreign Legion said Mr Routh was not officially involved in its activities.
But a person familiar with Legion recruiting efforts said “anyone” could claim to be taking part in the war effort by appearing on camera to participate.
“I can personally tell you that this is not like military recruitment in the U.S.,” the person said. “Typically, people who join the unit are referred by someone in the unit, or someone outside the unit who knows someone in the unit. That's how it usually goes.”
“He took it upon himself to point people in the direction of the International Legion. That appears to have been the extent of his recruiting duties with the International Legion.”
Routh has appeared in several major international publications, including: The New York Times, Semaphores and Newsweek Romania He railed against Ukrainians who resisted his clearly unsolicited advice on increasing the number of foreign troops, making wild claims.
“Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he plans to transport them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine, in some cases illegally. Dozens have expressed interest, Routh said.” The New York Times It will report in March 2023.
“Pakistan is a corrupt country so the passport can probably be purchased through Pakistan,” he told The Times.
But when these ideas were met with skepticism, he grew frustrated, telling Semaphore that Ukraine was too strict on its terms for accepting foreign fighters.
“Ukraine is difficult to work with. Many foreign fighters either stay in Ukraine for a week and then leave, or have to move from one unit to another to find a place where they are respected and valued,” he told Semaphore. He said he was “yelled at” whenever he suggested using Afghan special forces. “They're afraid that everyone is a Russian spy,” he said, frustratingly.
“Most of the Ukrainian authorities don't want these soldiers,” Routh told Semaphore. “I've met with our partners. [Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense] I've been applying every week, but I still haven't received a single visa.”
“Messiah Complex'
Other Ukrainian organisations that Routh has allegedly been linked to have also disowned him, including the International Volunteer Centre, which the Semaphore article said he led, but which said it had no business or ties to him.
“We have been officially registered as an organization in Ukraine since October 2023. Prior to the recent developments, no one outside our registered organization knew about Mr. Laus or any organization named International Volunteer Center,” the center said.
“We believe that Mr. Routh has not established an organization in Ukraine under the name International Volunteer Center.”
Similarly, Ukraine's Azov Brigade denied any association with Routh after a video of him attending a rally in support of the Mariupol garrison went viral, saying: “The peaceful demonstration in which he took part was public and open to everyone. He was accidentally seen in a video taken by demonstrators.”
“We believe that the spread of the story about a possible connection between Azov and Ryan Wesley Routh is in keeping with Russian propaganda and discredits the 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine and the Security Defense Forces of Ukraine as a whole,” the group said in a post on X on Monday.
Many American fighters and volunteers currently in Ukraine told The Post they fear reports of would-be assassins’ activities there could shatter vital U.S. support for the war on which their lives depend.
“This is probably not a good thing for aiding Ukraine. I don't know to what extent,” one Foreign Service member told The Washington Post, adding that Routh might have a “savior complex”.
“But I can tell you this is definitely a bad thing. It's not going to help anything.”
His involvement in Ukraine is already being used by Russian officials and other propagandists to spread disinformation about foreign aid to Kyiv.
“What if the new Routh, who hired mercenaries for the Ukrainian military to assassinate Trump and failed, was hired by the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev for this assassination attempt?” Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian prime minister and ally of President Vladimir Putin, said in a post on X on Monday.
