A US military veteran from Connecticut, James Vasquez, who has joined the Ukrainian defence forces in the fight against Russia, claimed on Friday that he helped destroyed seven Russian tanks in one day of fighting.

Vasquez shared a video on his Twitter account wherein he said, “Alright. So far, we took out seven Russian tanks, after a long fire fight we took control of the area.”

“Right now we’re going to just kind of sweep around and see what we got left. Some stragglers, take them out, call it a day, it’s been a long day. It’s been a long day baby,” the veteran further said, providing an update on the situation on the ground in Ukraine, without furnishing specifics such as locations.

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Responding to critics questioning his credibility on Twitter, Vasquez also posted footage of four tanks he helped destroy, writing, “For those of you correcting me on tanks. I know some are armored vehicle[s]. Just did not want to get into semantics but here’s some tanks to make you feel better.”

The veteran, who was a building contractor in the US after his stint with the military, flew to Poland on March 15 and crossed into neighbouring Ukraine the day after. Two days later, he was deployed to the frontline and sent to Lviv, which has been under Russian siege for a while now.

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Given his (public) involvement with the Ukrainian defence forces, Vasquez has also clarified that he is not part of an American battalion, but a volunteer.

“I don’t want the Russian propaganda machine saying there is a battalion of Americans which I’ve already seen. Here alone on my own accord in a complete voluntary capacity,” the vet wrote on Twitter, adding, “For those worrying about me being geo located please don’t. We have countermeasures and also never stay in the same place long enough.”

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, at least 16,000 foreign fighters have already joined the fight in Ukraine, while thousands more have volunteered to help Kyiv fight off the Russian invaders.