Drones, War & Life in Ukraine: Exclusive with US Marine
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- Опубліковано 4 лют 2025
- In this episode of Expats In Ukraine, host Corrie Nieto sits down with Rodi, a US Marine turned FPV drone engineer for the Ukrainian military. Known for his popular UA-cam channel @CivDiv, Rodi shares his unique journey from van life in the US to joining the fight against Russia. He discusses the challenges of serving in the Marine Corps, his transition to fighting with the YPG in Syria, and why he chose to come to Ukraine at the outbreak of the full-scale invasion. Rodi provides insight into the foreign fighter experience, the critical role of FPV drones in Ukraine’s defense strategy, and the importance of staying mentally grounded amidst the horrors of war. Whether it’s about his personal motivations, his experiences on the front line, or his work on life-saving drone technology, Rodi’s story is a must-watch for anyone interested in Ukraine’s fight for freedom and the role of foreign volunteers. Stay tuned to hear how he navigates complex battlefield dynamics and what keeps him coming back to Ukraine time and time again.
Follow Rodi on social media:
UA-cam / @civdiv
Instagram / civdivision
Subscribe to Corrie Nieto social media:
Instagram - / corrie.ua
UA-cam - / @corrieua
TikTok - / corrie.ua
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Please keep discussions on this channel clean and respectful and refrain from using racist or sexist slurs and personal insults.
#TheGaze #ExpatsInUkraine #UkraineWar #ForeignVolunteers #FPVDrones #USMarine #RoadyUkraine #UkraineFrontline #SupportUkraine #RussianInvasion
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
So happy to do this, really well done and proffesional. Loved hanging out in Kyiv with you and the everyone else. Really good memories for me!
Thank you for defending Ukraine 👏👏👏
We thank you for your service ❤we appreciate
Thanks for coming on the podcast Rodi! It was a pleasure chatting with you and I hope to see you again when you're back in town! Be safe brotha 🇺🇸
thank you for your service 💙💛
You're the good man 🤜🤛 thank you
CivDiv is a legendary person, great interview
CivDiv is a good man. Also Corrie, you are doing a great job producing informative content for a western audience. Thank you both!
What a good interview. I'll admit I had come across CivDiv a few times in the past 2 years and wasn't a fan. This interview really elevated him for me. Very impressive soul. Thank you for this awesome hour!
Thank you for watching. We're really glad you enjoyed the interview. Subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss other interesting videos, and share the link so others can watch this interview and more of our content.
Thank you for the kind words about Ukraine!
Our boy 👍👍👍 thank you for your work dear friend, you are already legend ❤ слава Україні 🇨🇿🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇸
very nice of civdiv to give a interview to a much smaller channel. :)
I'm a big fan of CivDiv so this will be fun.
I just came across this video and I just want to say huge thank you and respect to civdiv, that takes huge bravery and big heart to help a foreign country to defend itself ❤
Respect and gratitude to civ div ! 💙💛👏✌️
Today we celebrate the Day of Defenders, so I sincerely thank Rodi for the protection from the russian occupiers!!! May God always protect him and grant him happiness, longevity and good health!!!
Thank you CivDiv! Great courage and the attitude!
Yes! Good to see you doing well out of the field and not cooped up in a dorm. You and your brothers stay on point bud! Glory To Ukraine 🇺🇦
Glory to the heroes! 💪
There's a good quote "Everyone who joins the military is either trying to prove something or run away from something" and I largely find that to be true.
i like this guy
Thank you guys for what you doing 🇺🇦
Hello from Ukraine💛💙
What a good kid his parents must be proud.
Cool content! Thank you for the video!
Some of the locations in the The Donbas reminds me of the American midwest really has the battlefield sort of alive in my mind. I enjoyed Civdiv's accounts and trench content, this war seems to be getting so tech heavy I wonder what sorts of mechanisms he brainstorms to ultimately utilize there.
Good man! Respect!
👏🙂
Great video
Best wishes to the people of Ukraine and the people supporting Ukraine.
Awww- he is from Michigan, too? Wow. Makes me proud. Troy, too.
Civdiv likes ice caps! 🇺🇦🇨🇦
Great talk, thank you for all you do for Ukraine. Be safe, Slava Ukraine 🇺🇦
Mega positive and inspiring dude ❤ Good luck, learn the language get the girl, settle down 👍
"embarrassing" is not a positive word in English language in any context. honest mistake, happens to the best of us
якщо перекласти буквально слово "embarrassing" то вийде "соромний", але слово використовується в негативному окрасі та більше схоже до слів "позорньій" чи "ганебний"
скоріше за все, кращим вибором було би слово "humble", тобто "скромний"
@ sorry my bad 🥶
Huge respect to all Ukrainian soldiers, foreigners,people wjo dtay in the country and our great president who foes everything possible and impossible to make Ukraine win!
That was a great podcast
Thank you both
A really cool lad, best of luck Slava Ukraine
слава україні
Great interview, good questions!
Thank you for watching. Subscribe so you don’t miss other interesting videos.
This kids great people.👍
Support your work, and hope to help in more ways.
typing stuff for the algorithm to work better
great video!
Ooooooh civdiv!
Thank you for watching. Subscribe so you don’t miss other interesting videos.
Great interview, first time seeing this channel. Appreciate having a voice of sanity in a masculine space, unfortunately so many male oriented podcasts are just dudes drinking the kool aid. Thanks for keeping it real
Brave guy.
No Timmy’s but you have In and Out which I miss from living there so much 😩 lol
🇺🇲♥️🇺🇦
I am a muralist and musician that fundraises for dovtors without borders happy to help
What do you mean? They sell Root Beer at my Silpo on KPI metro station!
ніколи не бачив. воно типу в розділі "імпортне"? як воно державною називається?
timestamps would be much appreciated!
lets gooo
@CivDiv Bratan it's called an Ice cap xD
haha, Aromakava is total crap:)) You should have asked about other coffee shops :))) There are a lot of cool ones in Kyiv!
Im pretty sure he didnt finish u.s. marine course training so if anything hes a mercenary only but still hes alive and fighting so good for civ div
Nah, he said he went thru boot camp and whatever infantry school marines do. He fucked up some preexisting injury on a ruck or sum shit and dipped after 2 years. Maybe that happened during the school and he was separated
Once you graduate boot camp you are a marine .
They don't sell root beer in Australia couple of companies have tried and failed
🦅🌎⚓
Who is the kharkiv female youtuber they are talking about at 22:33 ?
Who is Aripeka? What is her channel?
@rybka_ma on IG
🇺🇦🤝🇵🇷
I wonder what the political views of these guys are because they seem conservative but at the same time conservative party’s in USA want to end funding unless they just don’t care and want to fight
Most American conservatives would probably call him a terrorist once they find out he was with YPG in Syria, at least that’s been my experience. They are not the most informed people around honestly.
👍
Love Civ Div!
Also, quick request, please ask your guests on paranormal encounters! This is heavy content. I would love to hear about some ghost/ufo/unexplainable stuff stories!
Thank you. Слава Украине.
Such a wildly entertaining podcast. I hate the recent propaganda in the united states.
777th like
Fact checked by Ukrainian patriots
I stand with Ukraine and Israel.
I support Ukraine. Israel? Not so much...
I stand with the military industrial complex
combat slippers
CivDiv is just a poster boy he hasn't done anything significant.
Meanwhile you do nothing but play video games. You’re a boy trying to talk down on a man, settle down.
Its weird seeing young people on youtube with culture lol most likely cause they dont live here anymore :)
Love this interview and civdiv but blaming America for people dying because they delayed giving away 10s of billions is wild to me as a american...I mean USA doesnt have to help at all, should be thankful they have literally kept Ukraine alive...
10s of billions is arbitrarily valued cold-war ear surplus and missiles past their use-by, all so the US can replenish its own reserves with brand new material. The cost of the material, the value, could be literally anything they choose. They inflate it because they're using it as an excuse to renew their own reserves (the more they value it, the more REAL value they can justify replacing it with which will never be used by anyone but the US military). They would be stupid not to do this as they no longer have to deal with the ACTUAL cost of decommissioning arms. They can also help hobble the Russians, which is a good thing the US is doing for once.
I can't understand people who are suddenly anti-war, when I personally have been part of the anti-war movement going back to Vietnam... This is completely different. This isn't one of those times. You get that right? This is one of the few good fights the US has been involved in supplying. People like Glenn Greenwald cheered on the Iraq war, but now can't stomach defending Ukraine against an imperialist oligarchy???... I don't understand you people. It's like you're sadists or something.
Democratic country getting invaded by dictatorship run by an oligarch who locks up and murders anyone who speaks up against him in his own country... Or is that what you want? Do you want anyone who speaks against Trump to be locked up or murdered? Books banned. Education controlled. Healthcare meddled with. Women having their autonomy eroded. Is that the world you want to live in? If it is, you are scum and I don't care to hear what you have to say on any subject.
Budapest Memorandum look it up. We signed a deal with Ukraine that we would protect them from Russia
So there is nato weapons and nato personel, but nato is not there?
Anyone is free to volunteer
You mean something like the little green man on Crimea (Wagner), or the new T72B3 of the Donbas rebels driven by active russian soldiers that were visiting the Donbas in their free time? All foreign volunteers in Ukraine are real volunteers payed by Ukraine = official Ukrainian soldiers, not shady bs like the russians do!
there's none "NATO personell". they all are volunteers, doing it out of their free will, and are not connected with NATO in any way, apart being born and raised in NATO countries
Disguise...
It’s not nato cause they are retired soldiers. They volunteered. Anybody can
LOL 2 dopey YANKS
OK boomer
How is giving more money to Ukraine going to win the war when America's military industrial complex can't keep up with the demand in Ammo & military equipment. 😐
The national guard units aren’t getting first priority. Fund raising helps with those guys.
Easy: the money is there to build factories in Ukraine or buy the weapons from other countries, like buying and refurbishing Gepards from Jordania for Ukraine. (Buying ammunition from other countries like Bulgaria or India etc.)
It’s all surplus dawg, MIC has nearly nothing to do with it.. yet
This guy is the biggest bundle of sticks. Always off fighting some war for some CIA op.
Sure, but why hire a simple grunt, when the whole hierarchy of the country is already cooperating??! And You are for sure a Pakistani spy working for the chinese right?
The Kurds are fucking based. You can hate the dude for being a "war tourist" but it seems like he believes in what he's doing.
not judging just curious about this mythical 2yr marine contract 🤔
I assume you missed the part he said his time was cut short due to AdSep?
@@christopherlail8694 yeah…whatever that is…usually there’s a story behind those
The story I heard was that yeti bros who just like JAQing themselves off shouldn't be taken seriously.
@@theodorekorehonen weird story but riveting nonetheless
@@christopherlail8694maybe he didn’t want toy take the Covid shot
слава україні
героям слава