Nate Vance

Nate Vance (born 1978) is an American veteran of the United States Marine Corps, and former volunteer combatant in the Russo-Ukrainian War. He is the first cousin of JD Vance, the 50th vice president of the United States, and served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps before later volunteering to fight for Ukraine from 2022 to 2025.

In early 2025, after returning from the front lines, Nate Vance drew international media attention for interviews in which he openly criticized his cousin's and the Trump administration's stance on the war.

Early life and family

Nate Vance is the son of James "Jim" Vance, maternal uncle of JD Vance, making Nate and JD first cousins.

He is about six years older than JD Vance and, according to Nate, the two grew up knowing each other well through family summer vacations in their youth.

Vance spent part of his early life in Texas and later in California, where his immediate family settled, maintaining ties with his Ohio-based relatives. Little is publicly documented about his formal education; however, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at age 17 in 1995, suggesting he completed high school before beginning his military service.

Military career

U.S. Marine Corps

Vance served in the Marine Corps for four years. He joined in the mid-1990s, a period when American Marines were not engaged in major active conflicts, so he did not see heavy combat during his enlistment. Instead, he gained extensive infantry and weapons training, an experience he later credited with honing his combat skills. After being honorably discharged, Vance moved to Texas and worked in the oil industry for a time, leading a relatively quiet civilian life before 2022.

Volunteer in the Russia–Ukraine War

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vance felt compelled to assist Ukraine. In March 2022, he traveled to Lviv, Ukraine, intending "to help" and to witness history in the making. There he connected with foreign volunteers – notably meeting a British volunteer recruiter – and decided to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces. By June 2022, Vance had enlisted in a Ukrainian volunteer unit known as the "Da Vinci Wolves" (a battalion within Ukraine's 1st Mechanized Battalion named after a famed fallen Ukrainian commander).

He served in the battalion's "Honor" Company and quickly earned the respect of his comrades for his experience and skill. Fellow fighters recounted how Vance, being older and ex-military, demonstrated exceptional marksmanship – for example, impressing younger soldiers by hitting distant targets with iron sights. The battalion's commander, Serhii Filimonov, praised Vance as "an excellent fighter with a cool-headed nature," noting that Vance's steady leadership saved their lives at many times.

During his three years in Ukraine, Nate Vance fought in some of the war's fiercest battles. According to reports, he saw frontline combat in major engagements including the battles of Kupiansk, Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and Pokrovsk – hotspots in eastern Ukraine that experienced intense and sustained fighting.

Vance remained in Ukraine until early 2025. He was formally discharged from Ukrainian service in January 2025.

He later explained that with the incumbing second presidency of Donald Trump, he grew concerned that if he remained on the front lines, he risked capture by Russian forces who might target high-profile American volunteers. ''"It had become complicated to stay. I couldn't take the risk of being captured,"'' Vance said, describing his decision to leave Ukraine just before the U.S. presidential inauguration.

Despite returning home, he expressed a continuing commitment to Ukraine, saying he ''"wants to continue helping Ukraine"'' even after active service.

2025 media interviews and public stance

After returning to the United States, Nate Vance gave a series of high-profile interviews in March 2025 that brought him into the public eye. In these interviews – with outlets including CNN and the French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' – he spoke candidly about his differences with the U.S. government's approach to the Ukraine war, specifically criticizing his cousin JD Vance, who is serving as vice president under Trump.

Nate Vance, who describes himself as a "Republican-leaning independent" and had been generally supportive of the Trump administration on other issues, said he found his cousin's stance on Ukraine deeply misguided.

One of the most notable statements Nate Vance made was calling his cousin and Trump "''Vladimir Putin's useful idiots.''" In an interview with ''Le Figaro'', he argued that by halting or reducing support for Ukraine, his cousin and Trump were effectively doing Putin's bidding under the false hope of appeasing the Russian leader. Vance warned that the Kremlin would not "forget" any U.S. aid cuts despite attempts to curry favor. This blunt characterization garnered worldwide media coverage, with major outlets like the BBC and ''The Telegraph'' citing Vance's remarks as a stinging rebuke of the Trump administration's policy.

Nate Vance also condemned the way his cousin treated Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, during a White House meeting in late February 2025. At that meeting, JD Vance had berated Zelensky for being "ungrateful" for U.S. military aid, in what observers described as a confrontational exchange. Nate criticized the encounter as "an ambush of absolute bad faith" against Zelensky. He said he initially tried to give JD the benefit of the doubt – assuming his cousin's harsh public rhetoric about Ukraine was "to please a certain electorate… just the game of politics" – but the disrespect shown to the Ukrainian leader crossed a line. Nate had attempted to reach out to JD multiple times during his deployment, offering to share his on-the-ground insight, but to no avail. His story was covered by outlets around the world.

JD Vance eventually responded to the public critique from his cousin. In a Fox News interview, the vice president praised Nate as "the toughest guy I knew" and said he would "be happy to talk to him". However, JD expressed puzzlement as to why Nate chose to air criticisms in the media, suggesting that his cousin "could have reached out through family" rather than contacting his Senate office or speaking out publicly. He also stated that he had refrained from commenting on Nate's service while the war was ongoing. Despite this response, as of the time of these interviews, it was unclear if the two relatives had reconnected privately.

Personal life and legacy

As a first cousin of JD Vance, Nate Vance shares in a family story that gained fame through JD's memoir '' Hillbilly Elegy'', although Nate's own upbringing differed by being largely outside the Appalachian environment depicted in that book. He has remained active in speaking about the war, aiming to continue supporting Ukraine through advocacy and by sharing his experiences.

In interviews, he has stressed the importance of understanding the mindset of adversaries like Russia, arguing that American leaders should not project U.S. thinking onto the Kremlin's actions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vance, Nate
1978 births
Living people
20th-century United States Marines
Nate Vance
Military personnel from California
Pro-Ukraine foreign volunteers in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
United States Marine Corps officers