Who is Malcolm Nance? MSNBC analyst joins Ukrainian forces on ground in fighting Russia

MSNBC analyst Malcolm Nance recently announced that he has joined Ukrainian forces to fight Russian authorities on the ground. He opened up about his decision while speaking to Joy Reid on The ReidOut:

“I spent quite a bit of time here in the pre-war period and when the invasion happened, I had friends who were in Donetsk, who were in the Ukrainian army, who were writing to us and telling us, ‘We’re not going to survive tonight. We’ve been hit 500 times.’”

Nance also said that he observed the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis and decided to take action instead of just talking:

“The more I saw of the war going on the more I thought, I’m done talking. It’s time to take action here.”

The 60-year-old also revealed that he joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense in Ukraine a month ago and is now ready to help the country:

“This is an existential war, and Russia has brought it to these people and is mass murdering civilians. And there are people here like who me who are going to do something about it.”

He also spoke out against the murder of civilians amid the ongoing crisis and said:

“Their emphasis seems to be the mass murder of civilians, which is against all laws of war — these are war crimes.”

Malcolm Nance further revealed that the international legion is a strong combat force and said that he is happy to get a chance to help his friends:

“The international legion here, which is a violable, strong combat force, which is out on the line, no one's going around asking whether you're Asian, or you're Catholic, or you're Jewish, whether you're actually helping the people of Ukraine. They are grateful for the help, and I'm grateful to be here. I'm glad that I can help my friends."

He continued to praise the international legion while speaking to The Daily Best and said that the group is diverse in nature:

“The international legion is one of the best-kept secrets in the country. That's the story. They were higher-level people than I am. I really can't tell you how diverse a group it really is. It is literally a multinational force of men and women who are here to defend Ukraine.”

Malcolm Nance also confirmed to the publication that he left his position on MSNBC after his contract expired.

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Malcolm Nance is a former United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer

Malcolm Nance author, media personality and an intelligence and foreign policy analyst (Image via Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images)

Malcolm Nance is an American author, media personality, and intelligence and foreign policy analyst, best known for contributing to MSNBC.

He is also a former United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer specializing in naval cryptology as well as the founder and executive director of think tank The Terror Asymmetrics Project.

Nance is known for his discussions on the history, personalities, and organization of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), Southwest Asian and African terror groups, as well as counterinsurgency and asymmetric warfare.

Nance was born on September 20, 1961 in Philadelphia and attended West Catholic Boys High School. He also studied Spanish, French, and Latin, and attended free classes in Russian and Chinese at South Philadelphia High School on Saturdays.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from New York's Excelsior College in 2011. Shortly after, he started working in the civilian intelligence arena and eventually analyzed Middle East terrorism and the ties of sovereign nations with the Russian Federation.

Malcolm Nance served in the U.S. Navy for nearly two decades between 1981 and 2001. He received several military decorations and was involved in numerous counter-terrorism, intelligence, and combat operations as part of his role as a U.S. Navy specialist in Naval Cryptology.

According to his official bio, Nance’s experience as a thirty-year veteran of the US intelligence community’s program on combating terrorism has helped him become a Middle East policy advisor to the US and international governments on special operations, homeland security, and intelligence.

Malcolm Nance is also the author of the New York Times best seller Defeating ISIS: Who They Are, How They Fight, What They Believe. He has also penned other books like The Terrorist Recognition Handbook, The Terrorists of Iraq: The Strategy and Tactics of the Iraq Insurgency, An End to al-Qaeda: Destroying Bin Laden’s Jihad, Restoring America’s Honor, and The Plot to Hack America, among others.