Las Vegas businessman travels to Ukraine multiple times to train troops

By Teresa Moss

Wednesday, June 28, 2023 | 2 a.m.

A Las Vegas business owner and U.S. Marine veteran has dedicated his time and resources to helping Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Lance Zaal is in Ukraine for the fourth time since the start of the war. During his trips, he’s trained 80 civilians in techniques to resist Russian troops and has helped import gear.

Zaal joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 2002 as an infantryman. He was deployed two times to Iraq and he earned the rank of sergeant before his service ended in 2006. His interest in international relations and politics continued after leaving the service.

He attended the College of William & Mary in Virginia, where he focused on Latin American studies. While in graduate school, he formed a friendship with Ivan Matveichenko, a native of Ukraine.

Soon after the invasion 16 months ago, Matveichenko’s family left for Poland, but the real estate developer stayed to fight.

“His group didn’t have any training,” Zaal said. “They didn’t have any direction or leadership. They didn’t know how to use their rifles or how to aim.”

Zaal didn’t think he had the proper experience to train the men. He tried to recruit others who were more qualified, but “everyone I hired bailed,” he said.

So, in March 2022, less than a month after the war broke out, Zaal traveled to Ukraine to start training civilians.

He brought body armor and first aid kits. He also supplied a Ukrainian special forces group with night-vision equipment and other gear.

“The men I trained were good people and not fighters,” Zaal said. “They are photographers, real estate investors, doctors, dentists and artists, all who rose to the occasion.”

In less than two years, some of the men have been killed, captured or wounded.

“Their death and pain both saddens and angers me,” he said. “It’s easy for me to give money when they are forced to fight for their lives and loved ones.”

Zaal said he’s glad he has been able to take his military experience and “put it to some type of noble use” in Ukraine.

There have been many stories since the Ukraine war started about former American military members flying overseas to help.

“Anybody who comes here, to a frontline, they are risking death,” Zaal said. “It is a calculated risk and it is something that is worth it.”

Ukrainians look to the United States and democratic countries in Europe as role models, Zaal said.

Zaal said it can be easy for Americans to remain detached from the struggles people face across the oceans.

“Being here is the right thing to do but also the right thing to do for our own national security and economy,” Zaal said.

Since Zaal’s first trip to Ukraine, the government there has improved its training, which is similar to U.S. military training.

“I may not be training any longer, but I feel I have a duty to continue my support by employing my resources to a just cause,” Zaal said in a statement. “As a veteran, I could train them, but as a businessman with resources, I can do much more to further that support.”

He is the owner of Las Vegas Ghosts, a group that offers tours giving historical insights about Strip resorts, details about past deaths on the properties and stories about spirits seen at the locations.

Zaal focused on bringing supplies, including secure communications devices and drones, on his second and third trips to the country.

He also set up Ghosts of Liberty, a private organization, as a way for others to donate funds to help Ukraine.

Zaal said he has financed most of the gear he’s donated to fighters in Ukraine, about $250,000.

During his most recent trip to Ukraine, Zaal is focused on meeting with different groups to assess what further assistance is needed.

“I will continue to do everything I can to meet the needs of those defending Ukraine,” Zaal said. “Despite assistance from governments and organizations across the world, the scope of the conflict is so vast — and brutal — that many small and important needs remain unfulfilled.”