Apparently trying to out-hawk the late John McCain, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick has described that he recently traveled to Ukraine and spent several days at the front lines.
The 51-year old Republican rep from Pennsylvania spent a total of a week inside the war-ravaged country, visiting soldiers while making declarations that Ukraine and the US will defeat the Russian military.
Fitzpatrick even did a provocative photo op wherein he signed an artillery shell “to Putin”. And even more alarming is that he filmed himself firing a large gun, which may have been an anti-aircraft weapon.
It’s unclear whether he was manning the gun near an actual combat zone, or if he was really engaging a target. Likely it was at some kind of training or firing range.
Still, it’s clear the Congressman was trying to be as provocative against the Russians as possible, at a moment a Republican president is trying to forge peace between Moscow and Kiev.
Crucially, Fitzpatrick traveled around with Ukraine’s National Guard Artillery and Third Assault Brigade – the latter which is made up of Azov Special Operations soldiers and is commanded by Andriy Biletsky, who has long been accused of having neo-Nazi links and ideology.
He wrote on X after the trip, “It was my profound honor to deliver a very ‘personal’ message to Vladimir Putin today, from the front lines of the war near the Russian border, on behalf of our PA-1 community. The only permissible details to share are that ‘the message was delivered on target.’“
This does suggest he may have been firing on or near an actual war zone – though the security risks would be enough to probably prevent him from getting very close to any real fighting.
Fitzpatrick has been receiving significant backlash over the stunt, especially as it could harm the cause of Trump’s efforts to negotiate peace settlement. In addressing ‘messages’ directly to Putin, it seems a deliberate effort at sabotaging peace.
Gen. Mike Flynn (ret.) ripped the Congressman, saying on X: “How stupid can you be?”
It was my profound honor to deliver a very “personal” message to Vladimir Putin today, from the front lines of the war near the Russian border, on behalf of our PA-1 community. The only permissible details to share are that “the message was delivered on target.”… pic.twitter.com/RUd8udc2kU
— Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick 🇺🇸 (@RepBrianFitz) April 18, 2025
“The Russians know exactly where you were the entire time and are not about to kill a sitting member of our Congress because they are not as ignorant nor as brain dead as you are for doing this. You are NOT brave,” Flynn continued. “You sir, are a complete fool on a fool’s errand for your own personal glory. Stop the killing and find ways to achieve peace instead of promoting war.”
The whole thing seems parallel to when McCain went to northern Syria in 2013, where he posed with Syrian ‘rebels’ who ended up being confirmed terrorists and kidnappers, which even the mainstream media pointed out after the trip. Fitzpatrick palling around with Azov members is appropriately similar, and the Congressman is unlikely to have won any friends in the Trump White House.
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