How Russia's Invasion of Ukraine Transformed a Fake War in Oklahoma

New York Times

28-05-2025

Lightning lined the clouds as a young high school student from northern Oklahoma, assembled his gear for a 40-hour pellet-gun battle.
Mason Lowery, 17, plans to join the U.S. Army after graduation, but his uniform and rifle for this military simulation were almost an exact copy of the equipment carried by Russian troops fighting and dying in Ukraine.
'I don't really know what they're fighting for, just that they're fighting,' Mason said of the war. 'I watch the drone footage sometimes when it comes up on Instagram.'
The manufactured reality of war's sights and sounds, but without its trauma, is what drew Mason to this fake battle. In this game, the war in Ukraine has never happened. Instead, it is set in Russia, in a dystopian world where George W. Bush, in his sixth term as president, rallies NATO to invade the country.
Mason was joined by roughly 300 others who paid around $250 to the company MilSim West to take part in what is advertised as a 'light infantry simulation' that involves two teams — NATO and Russian forces — battling for nearly two days with plastic pellet guns, blank ammunition, night-vision goggles and explosions.
In the United States, the re-enactment of historical battles — the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War II — has long been a niche hobby. But fake battles that echo an ongoing war, which has killed thousands of people, are a relatively recent phenomenon.
This simulation did not start that way. Josh Warren started MilSim West in 2011 with his business partner Brian Clarkson. He never imagined that Russia would invade Ukraine, or that his business would grow despite the violence happening on the other side of the world. He puts on about a dozen simulations a year across the country and can attract several hundred to more than a thousand people.
The battles provide camaraderie for friends drawn to a hobby known as airsoft, where two teams fight each other with guns that shoot plastic BB pellets. The events are not intended to be about current events, said Mr. Warren, a U.S. Army veteran. They are strictly in the realm of fantasy, he said.
But for many of the participants, the Russian invasion of Ukraine serves as a reference point when it comes to choosing their uniforms, patches and replica rifles.
Many players buy knockoff uniforms from companies like AliExpress. But some players on the Russian team might buy uniforms from military surplus stores that draw their merchandise directly from Ukraine's battlefields, according to people with knowledge of the supply chain.
Surplus Store Kino, an online military retailer that sells uniforms and equipment, is run by a Russian-Ukrainian man who buys salvaged Russian gear in 'trophy' markets in Ukraine. Trophies are battlefield items, anything from shirts to tanks, picked off the front line and injected into an evolving wartime economy. He said his gear usually comes from abandoned positions, cars or from a reserve of uniforms predating the war.
The merchandise is sent all over the world to airsoft enthusiasts, he said, declining to provide his full name since he is trying to avoid Ukrainian draft officers and the real war.
An employee at a military surplus store in the United States who sells Russian kit recovered in Ukraine, said his company tries to ethically source their products. That means they avoid selling uniforms covered in blood and other human detritus, he said, but importers sometimes skip tracing the items' history.
'We don't think too much of it,' he said. 'It's like if you're selling hamburgers and you can't get hamburger meat, and someone gives you a bunch of hamburger meat — you start not really asking questions as much.'
Shawn Prosen, 36, an employee who works in the field during simulations, said he is firmly against wearing 'trophy' uniforms because of the ongoing conflict.
'I let the younger dudes know how I feel about that,' Mr. Prosen said, using an expletive. 'Because they can get caught up in the internet and not realize how real it is.'
Mr. Prosen is in a unique position. A former U.S. Army soldier who deployed with the elite Ranger regiment to Afghanistan, Mr. Prosen is a hybrid tour guide and platoon leader for MilSim West, shepherding his clients across a battlefield that is not without discomfort.
Many of the younger participants, especially those considering joining the military, see Mr. Prosen and other cadre members as mentors or father figures. The veterans or serving military members view them as instructors helping to refine their skills.
Mr. Prosen is also part of an airsoft chapter that sometimes participates in the fictional battles as part of a group called the Rushing Russians. Known for its esprit de corps, physical standards, strict adherence to uniform aesthetics and a genuine interest in following the real war in Ukraine, the group has nearly 30 chapters, across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Chile.
As the fictional 'Fall of Salsk' began, Mason, the high school student from northern Oklahoma, met up with his unit. He had taped a white 'Z' — a pro-war symbol that Russian forces wear in occupied Ukraine — on his backpack.
Mr. Prosen inspected his platoon of roughly 40 men, almost entirely made up of Rushing Russians. He made sure they had appropriate shelter and enough food, water and other equipment, including BB pellets, to last nearly two days in the field. With rain fast approaching they would be in for a long night.
In the evening darkness, chatter in the assembly area sounded like a cross between a video game chat room ('It's weird not to hear this over Xbox chat,' one man exclaimed) and a formation of actual infantry troops.
'We're going to kill some NATO troops,' one cosplaying Russian soldier exclaimed as his comrades joined in.
'It's fun to be the bad guys,' said another whose costume was so accurate that it included a Russian army belt buckle.
Another attendee drawled in a fake Russian accent, 'I am from Texas Oblast,' using the term denoting administrative borders in Russia and some post-Soviet states, including Ukraine.
Arturo Wells, 18, a high school senior from Las Vegas, milled about in the field with his platoon, waiting for Mr. Warren's pre-battle briefing. He said he followed Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the beginning but soon stopped.
'It was depressing,' he said. 'Might as well live my life and not be depressed about it.'
It was nearly dark when MilSim's co-founder, Mr. Warren, arrived and the roughly 100 players gathered around him. After more than a decade, he had ironed his safety brief into a comedic routine. He went over the rules, the boundaries of play, what to do if shot (scream), how to search players (with consent) and finally the MilSim oath of sorts.
'Everyone raise your right hand and repeat after me,' Mr. Warren yelled. 'I am a silly war nerd, who plays silly war games.' The assembled players yelled back.
Almost two days later it was over. Hail, squalls, flooding and tornadoes had turned the battlefield into a swamp. Dozens of participants had quit.
In the last hour before the 'Fall of Salsk' ended, Michael Walworth, 26, led the Rushing Russians into battle, exhausted, soaking wet and with the flag of Novorossiya, the flag of the Russian-annexed proxy republic, billowing behind them.
'We've been doing this long before there was any war in Ukraine, and hopefully, we'll be doing it long after,' Mr. Walworth said. 'When MilSim West first started Russians happened to be the de facto bad guys and that's not likely to change.'