I was in Kyos when Russians invaded Ukraine and that was quite an experience because there were a lot of rumors.

People kept calling me and my colleagues and other police and military personnel that, okay,

beware that there could be landing, the airborne divisions of Russia landing nearby. My girlfriend was pregnant at home.

Just said, you know what, Tamerun, just get the hell out of home and go defend your country.

It's like, wow. And seeing like people walking around with machine guns and attempts and

challenge, that was quite a shocking experience there.

Welcome to Combat Story. I'm Ryan Fuget and I serve Warzone tours as an army attack helicopter

pilot and CIA officer over a 15 year career. I'm fascinated by the experiences of the elite

in combat. On this show, I interview some of the best to understand what combat felt like

on their front lines. This is combat story.

Tamerlin, thanks so much for taking the time to share your story with us today.

Thanks, Ryan. Hi, everyone. Yeah. So you're in a very scenic location, which we'll get to in just a

moment. For those who can't see you who are just listening, you've got a very cool

backdrop. But very quickly, for people who don't know, Tamerlin Vajabov, former advisor to the

director of defense procurement, Ministry of Defense in Ukraine, also headed the reform office and

advisor to the minister of internal affairs in Ukraine, been in government, law enforcement,

in a variety of places.

Very close to my heart, you studied at Georgetown right around the same time I did, spent

time at Naval Postgraduate school and obviously two degrees in Azerbaijan.

Lots to cover. We want to make sure we get there, but we're three years in to the war with Russia invading Ukraine here February of 2025.

You are really an expert when it comes to defense procurement, weapons, military.

And we'll talk about what's going on, of course, in some of your background.

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