Our van pulls into an area adjacent to the Lviv cemetery called the “Field of Mars”, named for a god highly considered in the Roman pantheon. This is not a cemetery that most of us would recognize. Acres of burial sites are nestled next to each other. Entombed are Ukrainian heroes whose lives were taken in Russia’s War of Aggression against Ukraine.
The grave sites feature a photo of each combatant often in military fatigues. The average age of these heroes is thirty-six. The overwhelming number are men from the Lviv Oblast.
The graves have been meticulously attended to by loved ones. At each grave site flags flutter on this breezy and sunny afternoon. The blue and gold Ukrainian flags that so many of us have become familiar with in this war, are joined by the Ukrainian red and black flags of the underground resistance against the Soviets.
Draped across some of the photos are rosaries. At each corner of the graves are glass lanterns. One evening each month they are all lit, creating a sea of light in a sacred tribute honoring ultimate sacrifice for freedom and liberty. Many of the sites have a small, crafted bench for mourners. Covering each site are gardens of real greenery and flowers representing life and remembrance.
Jeffrey Wills, our friend, and scholar at Ukraine Catholic University is leading the walk of honor this afternoon. Jeffrey shares with us what it is like to be present at an actual burial ceremony here in the Field of Mars. He attended the funeral and burial of a friend’s son killed in combat.
The funeral took place at the Garrison Church in the heart of Lviv. It is a church I visit each time I am in Lviv. Photos of many of their fallen heroes are present along the churches long side aisles. I noticed this year photos of children who have died in the war.
Jeffrey explains that the casket is brought into the church by military escort who carry the wooden cross and the photo that will be put on the grave. During the funeral service the family is standing next to the casket and mourners go up and touch the casket and express condolences to the family. There is no sterile funeral home for this farewell. Family and friends have brought to the church numerous large bouquets and live plants, and these will now be taken to the grave.
At the Field of Mars, there is a short military ritual, and the widow/mother is given the flag that draped the casket.
While the funeral liturgy was goin on, the grave was dug and now the body is placed into the grave by hand. Jeffrey reminds us that in Ukrainian culture the wake is usually at the home of the deceased, where the body has been prepared by family, and everyone crowds into an apartment or house the day of the death or the day after. Ukrainians are used to handling and being close to the dead.
Then after a few chanted prayers, starting with the priest, the mourners and gravediggers shovel dirt onto the casket. Jeffrey notes, “All this takes time, everyone is standing around the grave watching and waiting or weeping—all at the pace of timeless village life. There is no hurry and no professional distancing or background organ music. There is just the dirt.”
Once the priest and gravediggers go, the family takes over, placing the dozens of ribboned bouquets on top of the fresh dirt. The baskets of flowering plants go on the side of the mound, and the wreaths at the head of the grave next to the vivid photograph of the soldier. Of course, some things need to be rearranged and then rearranged.
Jeffrey reminds us that healthy grieving is work and the family still does most of that work themselves. They will come back the next day and the next and straighten things out and add memorabilia. Fresh flowers are placed on the graves regularly and family members tend every detail to make sure everything looks perfect. And since the Field of Mars is so visible, it is important to uphold the dignity of the lost one midst the fallen.
A short driving distance from the Field of Mars in Lviv is a modern three-story medical building with the other worldly name, Superhumans. It is a state-of-the-art rehabilitation center for adults and children seriously wounded by the war and who now are afforded another chance for a decent life. In six regions of Ukraine, seventy plus medical specialists attend to measuring, crafting, and fitting amputees with the latest and most modern prostheses to replace limbs lost in the war. Each year 3,000 patients are seen.
In a BBC report one amputee says, “I am going back to the frontline with my new bionic arm.” A Wall Street Journal article talks about how these medical treatments are giving the Ukrainians a quiet edge over Russia.
In the parking lot we pile out of the van. There are two ways into the building, stairs to climb or a long ramp. We take the ramp to the front doors where several amputees are talking while drinking coffee and cupping lit cigarettes. Inside the smoke free lobby, a clean bustling place, others with prosthetic limbs observe us observing them.
We are told by our guide that Ukrainians have lost 86,000 limbs in the war. But there are now places in Ukraine where soldiers come to be fitted by the best technology and workmanship in the world. Over a period ranging from weeks to months, skilled craftsmen and women working with state-of-the-art machinery replace the lost limbs.
We watched as soldiers and veterans did their rehab exercises and drills with their new feet, legs, arms and hands. One soldier told us that before he lost his leg in the war, he had absolutely no interest in climbing hills or mountains. “Now”, he said, “I have recurring dreams of climbing them. It is what I want to do.”
At the end of our tour, we were ushered into a conference room to listen to a strapping six feet two-inch soldier. He lost a foot and arm in the war. Here he is fitted with a new foot and arm with a bionic hand. In a question-and-answer exchange he told us that he was concerned about how his 14-year-old daughter would handle his new prostheses. When she first saw her father with the arm and new bionic hand she said, “It will be ok dad, we can walk and I can hold your new hand.” Many of these soldiers want to go back to their units and some do. Not all go into combat but instead into important jobs that need to be done by dedicated soldiers. Their resilience and fortitude are astounding.
For centuries the Russians have been tormentors of the Ukrainian people. From the Russians Tsars coming south in the 1600s, to the 17th century Cossack uprising, to the collapse of the USSR in 1991 and Ukrainian independence then to the invasions of Ukraine by Russia in 2014 and more fully in the winter of 2022, Ukrainians have stood strong.
One of the most important and celebrated voices of Ukrainian history today is Yaroslav Hrytsak, historian, public intellectual, and Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University. In his book, Ukraine: The Forging of a Nation, Hrytsak writes about the first days of the full invasion in February 2022.
“They (Russians) were stopped at the city of Bucha, twenty-four kilometers as the crow flies from Kyiv. Twenty-four kilometers is the distance from which their artillery could have reached the center of the Ukrainian capital. The Russians were stopped by volunteers from the neighboring city of Irpin. They occupied a hill between the two cities and fired upon the enemy from there. The defenders held the line for an entire month until regular Ukrainian troops arrived and pushed the Russians all the way back to the Belarus-Ukrainian border.
“Most defenders were civilians. Among them was a musician from an academic orchestra; a family therapist who taught Argentine tango in his free time; a lawyer who handled the radio communications, since radio was a hobby of his; several construction workers, a gas station attendant, and others. The sniper was a recreational hunter. They fought creatively. When they came under fire from large caliber weapons, they brought in concrete mixers and bulldozers to build a barricade against the shelling.
“All Ukraine was seized with the spirit of initiative and self organization. Just look at the mayors of the largest towns and cities. Each of them took steps to mobilize their own defense without waiting for orders from the capital.”
Since 2014 Ukraine has lost between 10-15 million people who have decided to seek safer places to live. We don’t know the exact number, but that range is agreed upon. Most of them are women and children and the elderly who have migrated to other countries. In this war of aggression Russia has occupied about 20% of Ukraine. Those who remain in Ukraine are resolute and strong.
As a Ukrainian/American who grew up in a Ukrainian community and home in Michigan, I can attest to our community’s strength and courage in the face of aggression. Historically, Russia and its different empires have been the prime oppressors of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people stretching over many centuries. Today Russia’s military is considered the third most powerful on the planet behind the U.S. and China.
Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, I have travelled three times to Ukraine with other “friends of Ukraine,” First to try and help with the refugee crisis, the largest flow of peoples in Europe since World War II. Also, our efforts over the last two years have been targeted at providing mental health support to Ukrainian families and combatants suffering from war trauma.
OUR ITINERARY
Our 13-day trip included stops in Warsaw and Krakow, before we entered Ukraine at the crossing near Prezmysl, Poland.
Our team’s third trip to Ukraine included a quartet of U.S. war veterans and a psychiatrist/professor. Our destination in Ukraine were Lviv, Ivano Frankivsk, Odesa, and Kyiv. Our goals were to see and learn as much as possible so we can write about what we have witnessed as well as to help provide aid in the mental health arena.
For security purposes there are no commercial flights in Ukraine. Cars, buses and trains are the only available ways to travel in country. I scheduled night trains, 9-11 hour rides with a small sleeping compartment, so we could better use our time to visit, see, learn, and strategize.
OUR MISSION
Our mission was twofold. First, we scheduled meetings and stops to visit health facilities and to meet with patients and health practitioners in the fast developing mental and physical health arenas. As a group of veterans, we had just completed raising over $100,000 in the U.S. for mental health programs that address the war trauma that Ukrainian children and combatants are suffering. We provided six Ukrainian NGOs that I had been working with over the last three years with modest grants to invest in local mental health programs—primarily psychological therapy for those with war trauma.
Our second mission was to continue our effort to link Ukrainian and U.S. veterans so they can work together on the myriad issues facing both veterans’ communities. Disabled veterans in both countries are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.
THE PARTICIPANTS
I was fortunate to have with me on this trip three other veterans with military experience. Jack Devine who like me served four years in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. Jack was one of the early leaders of Vietnam Veterans of American (VVA), an organization established to organize veterans in the U.S. who had been abandoned and ignored by their government and many of its citizens. VVA grew to have 600 local chapters throughout the U.S. Jack rose to become the VP of the national VVA. His record of leadership and service to his fellow veterans over half a century is hard to match. And so is his friendship. Jack also hails from Michigan.
Jack and I met John Fenzel and Ron Clark through Jan Scruggs who with Robert Doubek founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. Both John and Ron have stellar military and civilian government service records for our country. John Fenzel is a retired senior Army Special Forces Officer (Green Beret), He is the author of four novels and worked at the White House in the West Wing. Ron Clark served and led as a Marine Corp infantry officer in combat overseas. Ron then served in the White House for six years with President George W. Bush and then President Barack Obama. Dr. Ron Clark is an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University and a principal founder of Spartan Strategies.
Rounding out our team is Dr Eric Trupin, a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Trupin has worked extensively with children who have had traumatic mental health issues. He also worked on health issues in the U.S. Congress. This is his second visit to Ukraine. Together we have worked with Save Ukraine to help Ukrainian Children whom the Russians had kidnapped, readjust to their Ukrainian families. He has also worked with organizations, like Globsec, that are educating the public for in the need of mental health support especially those suffering from Post Traumatic Stress.
Dr. Trupin is a friend and colleague of former U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott of Washington state who was a member of our first team that went to Ukraine in 2023. Others who have also been to Ukraine in support of our work include Father Peter Daly, a friend and retired Catholic priest and writer for the National Catholic Reporter. Peter has also authored an acclaimed novel. Others who have taken part in our Ukrainian work are Tanya Keppler who was very helpful in writing our first mental health report in 2023-24. On our trip in 2024, Brian Brady, the former 20-year Director of the Mikva Challenge, provided valuable support. Today Brian and I host a podcast called the Civic Pulse.
Lastly, Emily Rutkowski, a University of Michigan graduate and lawyer has devoted an enormous amount of time energy and resources to the cause of Ukraine including the founding of Misha’s Angels, a Ukrainian/U.S. NGO. Misha’s Angels provides needed frontline support through quick delivery of first aid kits, clothing, vehicles used to evacuate the injured and drone related materials.
A NOTE TO DONORS
To our donors I have some encouraging news to report. We found that your generous contributions have already been put to beneficial and effective use in Ukraine. For instance:
In Lviv we took part in the first Peer-to-Peer training program, where Ukrainian veteran volunteers work with veterans suffering from war trauma and PTSD. Your contributions helped to fund this program at Ukraine Catholic University (UCU). At UCU we got an update on the training programs for priests and other religious leaders. There was also discussion about the joint UCU/Stanford University project for training Ukrainian veterans who are looking to set up small businesses to integrate back into civilian society. UCU is its own hub for veterans. The university and its President and board understand how important it is for the University to lead in the war effort.
We also met with one of the most innovative and respected voices in the mental health reform arena in Ukraine or anywhere else, Dr. Oleh Romanchuk, who established the mental health institute at UCU. Dr. Romanchuk told us that Ukrainian survival depends upon its resilience, and mental health reforms are key to that resilience.
In Ivano Frankivsk your contributions have been used by the Veterans Hub at Teple Misto, to help establish a retreat center, Franca, for veterans and their families in the near-by Carpathian foothills. There we visited and talked with the psychologist and family members of veterans killed in the war.
In Odesa we spent a day with the 39th brigade and their supporters who with your help established a comprehensive Veterans Center with programs for veterans and their families in need of psychological therapy.
In Kyiv we met with the staff of Ukrainian Caritas and talked about the veterans’ camp program just outside the city of Zhovkva that will provide therapy for the families of veterans, including children and spouses. This program, partially funded by your contributions, is a relatively new program for Caritas which has 30 plus centers spread throughout Ukraine. The way forward with veterans is through a program that is inclusive of the family. In November 2025, the first family program begins at the camp.
Also, in Kyiv we revisited the program known as Save Ukraine. They work with disabled children with special needs. But it is also known for its work rescuing abducted children from the grip of Putin and his accomplices who have kidnapped 20,000 Ukrainian children and taken most of them to camps in occupied Crimea for indoctrination. The children are then fostered or adopted in Russia. We met with Save Ukraine staff at their new campus in the suburban Kyiv city of Hatne. Unfortunately, Dr. Trupin’s innovative program where psychologists work with returned children was stop by Trump’s budget cuts to U.S. AID.
*A footnote here. All funds raised are used for programs, mostly for therapy of veterans and children suffering from war trauma. All of our active supporters have come to Ukraine on their own dime, and have donated their time, skills and resources to fund their own participation. This extraordinary gift of service and funding is deeply appreciated.
THE NARRATIVE
September 19-October 1, 2025
With all the horrors that are taking place in Ukraine, It would be small of me to complain about our travel logistics. I will only say that it is difficult to travel in a war zone. We all accept that difficulty as a hurdle to overcome to bear witness to the war and be helpful where we can. My friend, J.B. Masset from France, makeshis living providing travel services for others. He has himself travelled to Ukrainian border to help with refugee displacement and driven vehicles to the Ukrainian border with support materials for the war such as generators for civilians and food and medicine for frontline combatants. His service of connecting us to planes, trains, and buses is also a contribution that is appreciated.
Before this trip I decided to raise some money for the six Ukrainian NGOs I had been working with. Our initial goal was to raise $60,000. Almost immediately through the remarkable generosity of a few, we were halfway to our goal. We raised our hopes and with the contributions of a hundred kind souls the total was over a $100,000. We were able to give small grants of $15,000 to each of the six organizations using Ukraine Charitable Platform which became our vehicle for accepting the donations and then delivering the gifts to the Ukrainian NGOs. Most of the funds are being used for psychological therapy for children and veterans suffering war trauma and Post Traumatic Stress (PTS).
I wish all of you could have been with us to witness the value of what you gave. The programs that you funded are so grateful for your support. I add my deep appreciation to each of you. Thank you!
On the day before our flight, JB called to let me know that our original flight had been cancelled but that we had been rebooked on Lot, the Polish Airline. For me it was relatively easy to get my flight out of Dulles Airport in Virginia. But for Jack with whom I would be flying, it became more difficult.
Jack was leaving from Lansing, Michigan and flying to Chicago, and then taking a flight to meet me at Dulles Airport. Instead, JB needed to rebook Jack to New York City so he could join me on our rebooked flight leaving from Newark Airport to Krakow, Poland. But the only flight available for Jack that was close to Newark was one to LaGuardia in NYC. From there Jack was to get a bus to Newark by way of the Port authority. Jack did get on that bus and it took him two hours riding around NYC environs before getting to Newark. I had no problem getting to Newark. Jack and I hooked up at the Lot Airlines ticket counter for our flight to Krakow.
There was no way to get public transportation into Ukraine on the day we arrived in Krakow, other than spending the night. So, we took advantage of being in Krakow and had a tour of the city center. I had been before, but Jack had not. We were joined by my friend Andriy.
I met Andriy two years ago at a small cemetery church in Rzeszow, Poland. The pastor of the church Father Bohdan Kirk and some of his parishioners were active supporters of immigrant Ukrainians once the full invasion began in the winter of 2022-23.
Andriy is a strong, muscular young man who with his wife Veronica from NW Ukraine have two young children. In 2014 he fought in the Donbas and worked in intelligence. Photos of Andriy show him with his military unit in olive camo in the warm months and white camo in the winter, all fighters are looking confident.
Today Andriy helps logistically in Poland, providing transportation for others going into Ukraine to support their cause. He also works with others helping the transportation of ambulances, generators, and other needed items for the Ukrainian people and their military. Andriy speaks little English, but he can understand through conversation and google translation. Andriy joined us for the tour and lunch and then in his Audi Quantro sped Jack and me to Rzeszow a 90-minute ride on an impressively modern Polish highway.
We spent the night in the Hotel Rzeszow before being picked up by Andriy in the morning to get our bus ride to the Lviv, Ukraine. Dr. Eric Trupin’s journey was much shorter as he was arriving after visiting his brother in Vienna. He landed at the Rzeszow Airport at 1am, picked up by Andriy and brought to the Hotel for a few hours of sleep.
Our other colleagues John and Ron were in Warsaw, Poland meeting with former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Mark Brzezinski. They were investigating opportunities to open holistic mental health centers. We hoped to meet up with them in Lviv in two days to continue the trip to Ivano Frankivsk, Odesa, and Kyiv together.
SUNDAY, DAY ONE: TRAVEL AND DINNER
Unlike on my previous trips into Ukraine there were no seats available on the train leaving from Przemysl, Poland. So, we were left with the option of bus or car. I take responsibility for the bad call—the bus. It was a particularly hot day that Sunday. When we reached our bus, it was already in a long queue to get across the border. It was a double decker, and we took the last three seats on the lower level near the driver. We bid our farewell to Andriy and settled in.
Little did we know that the air conditioning was not working well. Or that the lines of vehicles, cars, trucks, and buses were barely moving. The upshot here is that we moved 100 yards in 7 hours and 30 minutes with no cool air. My teammates were not happy with me. The only redeeming aspect in all this were the university students seated next to us on the bus. Also, the “people watching” that happens when people are stranded. That was entertaining but it did get old.
My seat mate was a university senior, Mariia Osovska from Vinnystia, Ukraine. She was studying art management at Fachhochschule in Karnten, Austria from where she started her journey back to Ukraine. I started a conversation andlearned she spoke four languages, was an environmental enthusiast, all from this in her off hours from school and work. She loved art and writing. Overall, a remarkably interesting young woman. The 60-year difference in our ages made our discussion even more challenging. I have five grandsons in college and three granddaughters in high school. So, it was” like talking with my granddaughter. I had to be careful not to be too grandfatherly. She was well schooled in both art and politics including the mind of Donald Trump.
Mariia was seated next to the window curled up in a blanket, wearing headphones, and reading a book, Networking and Friendships: Egon Schiele, in which she was feverishly underlining in ink. Before I arrived, she had both seats so I can imagine she was not thrilled to yield half her space to grandpa. Yet, I could see she was curious about these three late arriving Americans who filled the last three seats on the bus.
Our conversation deepened and soon we were into the war, the Russians, and our president who is in a bromance with the evil Putin. She was curious about Trump whom she did not like. So much so that the mere thought of his name unleashed from her a series of f- - - bombs.
Her passion was art and the world of creative art. She saw and appreciated how the art could reach people more than politics. I suggested she see the Ukrainian Documentary “Porcelain War” about three artists who continued their art, painting and film making along with their duties as Ukrainian soldiers. We also talked about the award-winning documentary “20 days in Mariupol.” It reminded me that art and war intersect in profound ways.
I noticed that both Dr. Trupin and Jack were asleep in their seats. I excused myself and then left the “bus that never moved” for a walk outside among the many other passengers who were milling about in what felt like a parking lot of stranded cars, buses, and trucks. We could now see the Polish border buildings and beyond this a Ukraine campus of inspection and interrogation. This is where we surrendered our passports and sent our luggage through security machines that were similar to airport security. There were enhanced safety protections geared to detect” smuggled arms, money, and explosives. When we arrived at: the Ukrainian entry point our bus was taken away and inspected, we were told, from top to bottom.
The previous night in my hotel room I was about to crawl into bed and get some sleep before meeting Jack and ‘Eric in the lobby at 4:30 am for the pick-up from Andriy. Then I heard a knock on my door. It was Andriy, his wife Veronica, who does speak English and their two small children. I invited them into the room, but they insisted that they were just dropping off food for our trip in the morning. Veronica made varenyky (dumplings like Polish Peirogi), cheesecake and rolls and pork patties. It resembled what my busia made for our family when I was a child. We chatted for a while, and I thanked Veronica enthusiastically for her kindness. I told her I would share this with our traveling team tomorrow. I then re-arranged my mini bar refrigerator so that their gift of food would not spoil.
The next day, stuck on the bus for almost eight hours, that delicious food helped keep us sane. There was also ample time to write some random observations in my notebook.
There was a lot of vaping going on by young and not so young people which surprised me. I thought only the young vaped. Many of the women had ponytails and the ones who didn’t had their hair piled on top of their heads in a bun. Tattoos were as common as they are in the States. Most people dressed very casually and were engaged in conversation. Some smoked but not as many as I would have thought. Even here in Eastern Europe where smoking is a serious addiction, it seems much less so than just a few years ago. Those not engaged in face-to-face conversations were focused on their smart phones.
Time dragged on. Back on the bus I found myself peering out the windows. On one side of our bus was a large parking lot and the other side a cornfield. Straight ahead were other vehicles and the interrogation campus of inspection. As much as I hated sitting in the sweltering heat hours upon hours, I was all for what the inspectors were all about—safety.
I had to cancel our 16:00 hrs visit to a rehab facility in Lviv. I rescheduled the visit for the next day. Ukrainians have become accustomed to delay during the war.
When we finally got underway and finished with the inspection process, I noticed the student in the seat in front of me had music printed on the back of the hoody she was wearing. When I inquired about it, she answered in excellent English, “It is the Ukrainian National Anthem.” I thought ‘what a great idea.’ Their anthem is one of the most compelling of all patriotic songs. The lyrics are what you might expect, “Ukraine has not lost its glory nor her freedom.” That has been true for centuries. It is resilience for the ages embedded in their national song. And Ukrainians are proud to perform it, sing it, and wear it on their backs.
Last year Judy and I were given a gift by our son Andy and his wife Andrea to a concert by a popular Ukrainian band called Dakha Brakha. Their music is part of the award-winning documentary “Porcelain War.”
Before the concert began, the Ukrainian National Orchestra played the Ukrainian National Anthem. That brought everyone to their feet. I will always remember that evening. The audience was composed of Ukrainian- Americans including dignitaries such as their Ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarkova, who had in her own right become well known, liked and respected in the U.S. For me, the anthem is as rousing as the La Marseillaise. It stirs the heart and dampens your cheeks.
Our beleaguered bus driver announced that the bus will stop at the outskirts of Lviv and the riders switched to a bus with air conditioning. I at once, with the help of Mariia, contacted Jeffrey Wills from UCU. Since I had invited Jeffrey to dinner with other guests, I needed to let him know. We all agreed to meet at the bus garage where the exchange of buses was to take place. From there Eric, Jack and I changed to a van that Jeffrey provided, and we headed to the UCU campus and Campus Inn where we had rooms. Then we were off to our Orientation Dinner at the Amadeus Restaurant in historic downtown Lviv center.
On the many trips that I have been on, I have unexpectedly met people who gave me a flavor of the country we were visiting and typify the character of that country. Andriy and Mariia are such people. They are both smart and hardworking while being considerate of others. And like so many Ukrainians, they are resilient.
Dinner at Amadeus
Jeffrey Wills billed the dinner on our first day in Ukraine as an orientation dinner. We were all veterans of Ukraine. Even Jack, had been to Ukraine on several occasions to meet with officials about securing information regarding the remains of U.S. missing in action during the Vietnam war. Yes, the Ukrainians had a connection and were helpful to Jack and his colleagues on his visits twenty years ago. Besides Jack and me, Eric Trupin was at the dinner. Other guests on the outdoor terrace this lovely evening were Jeffrey Dirk Wilson and Tania Vitvitsky.
Tania is a Ukrainian activist who is the President of Ukraine Charitable Platform. She was enormously helpful in our efforts to congregate the donations for our gifts that were awarded to six Ukrainian NGOs. She also writes and lectures on her recent trips throughout Ukraine. She is a community activist who lives in Lviv and also in Massachusetts. Tania’s connection to Ukraine Catholic University is strong— a great friend of UCU.
Professor Jeffrey Dirk Wilson is a scholar who is on the faculty of UCU. An excellent writer and speaker, he was a great dinner guest.
The conversation at the table centered on our mission and work in the mental health sphere. Our U.S. team was interested in hearing an assessment of how the Ukrainian people were coping. There were light-hearted moments at our table, but it was still hard to remove ourselves from the horror of the war while dining in a nice restaurant in a beautiful city on a lovely evening. At dinner Jeffrey Wilson and I talked about his joining us on our day excursion to Ivano Frankivsk to visit the new camp for psychological rehab.
DAY TWO, MONDAY: UCU AND LVIV
Our interpreter, Antoniia Novak, arrived by train from Kyiv and we met in the UCU cafeteria which opened at 8:00am. Antonia was not only an excellent interpreter, but also a wonderful shepherd, getting our team to and from appointments with skill and diplomacy. While we were getting to know each other, Psychology professors Anastasia Shyroka and Dr. Maryana Mykolaychuk came by to say hello. Some on our team have been meeting with Anastasia to learn about “moral injury” a concept in psychology that addresses damage to an individual’s moral conscience and values. This is a significant matter in the context of war, posing serious issues for not only the combatant but also their families. Moral injury covers the deep psychological distress resulting from action or the lack of action taken by soldiers. This distress is often associated with feelings of guilt, shame, and betrayal. Unlike Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is about fear and trauma, moral injury deals more with guilt and shame. Moral injury is seen as a moral or ethical wound. It is a key piece of understanding what veterans are struggling with because of their service.
Two years ago, UCU started a psychological training program for priests who counsel with their military parishioners. I hope the outreach program UCU runs for Catholic priests will be expanded to religious leaders of other denominations and faiths.
After our talk with Anastasia and Maryana we walked over to. the inaugural class on the Peer-to-Peer program. This is a new program at UCU but a long-standing approach to get veterans working with other veterans as healing therapy. This program is a product of the Psychology Department and the Office of Innovation.
Maryana Mykolaychuk from the Psychology Department and Oleksiy Molchovsky from the Innovation Office were critical in making the Peer-to-Peer project work. They both welcome the veterans with big smiles and open arms.
They are expecting 30 veterans. At the appointed time I count 14 but that number steadily climbs over the next hour. Many of the veterans are in their prostheses, having lost an arm or leg. And that number of 86,000 Ukrainian amputees once again becomes real to me. I talked to several of them briefly before the start of the class. Maryana brings the class to order. She has a very pleasant and appealing way about her with a lovely smile.
After welcoming them she introduces our team as U.S veterans visiting and helping with a partial financing of the program. The program runs through November and those taking part and completing it, will get a certificate acknowledging their participation and giving them a credential to work in veterans’ hubs that have counseling programs. This program is taught in Ukrainian, and we have two excellent translators, Jeffrey Wills and Antoniia whose whispers are discrete and quiet for the four U.S. vets.
Maryana emphasizes the importance of “trust.” She says that when we have trust, we can then understand the emotional issues that are troubling which in turn allows for discussion.
Mid-way in the class Taras Dobko who is the rector of the University, greeted the newly enrolled students. He said, “We who live a peaceful life can do it only because of you.” The rector went on to praise their desire to help their fellow soldiers. Rector Dobko emphasizes the need to involve the whole family and the significance of their role. On this trip we are seeing more family inclusion for supporting each other. The Rector wraps up his remarks by lauding the physical rehab programs at the University and those in the campus community who are active in helping the war effort.
We were also fortunate on this day to meet the esteemed psychiatrist and mental health reformer Dr. Oleh Romanchuk, the founder of the Mental Health Institute at UCU. He was first a pediatrician and established a center for children with disabilities. Later, he founded the private Family Circle Center where he is a doctor and psychotherapist.
Dr. Romanchuk first remarked that “one of the main causes of death among young people is suicide. The psyche at this age is like a large building which opens great possibilities but has many corridors in which one can get lost.”
Additionally, he observed that the healing of war wounds, is one of the strategic goals of UCU. He pointed out that these war years are a strong time for mental health reform, turning away from the old suffocating Soviet system which employed a brainwash therapy. Today the reform movement is progressive and requiring cognitive techniques that are evidence based. And resilience is a key and a strong selling point. In the last three years, thousands have been trained as psychologists. But Dr.Romanchuk also mentioned the need for psychologists to be trained in military psychology so the veteran and his/her family can be part of the healing process. The mental health teams at UCU are working with Mrs. Zelensky, the Ukrainian First Lady and her staff in pushing mental health forward.
Our next stop is the Rehab Center that we had to cancel the previous day. It is a short ten-minute walk from campus. We are greeted at the door by Serhiy who was seriously injured in a helicopter accident. Serhiy is now in a wheelchair. He said something at the start that I liked. “We can live a little bit softer.” He supports coaches that help the veterans here to recover. This center teaches disabled vets how to live with disabilities. Those needing a prosthetic wait here for four to six months. At Superhumans where we visited later in the day the wait time is two months.
Anana Horkun also works here and mentions that 80% of veterans get divorced during or after their service. The number astounds us. The number is more evidence of how destructive war is to civil society.
After our visit we grab a bite to eat at the campus cafeteria before we drive over to two memorable places that I referenced at the start of this report— Field of Mars and then Superhumans. (see page one)
DAY THREE, TUESDAY: IVANO FRANKIVSK
Back the night before at the UCU Inn I alert our team that they should bring their luggage to the lobby at 7:00am. After our long day in Ivano Frankivsk and the mountain retreat we will be driving straight to the Lviv railway station for our 19:46 all night train to Odesa. JB arranged for a driver who was a real professional. He loaded our luggage and kept us on time on our very tightly scheduled day. Traveling to Odesa are Jack, Professor Jeffrey Wilson, our interpreter Antoniia, and myself. At 7:20 we get a call that Jeffrey Wilson is running a little late. He is walking to our Inn on the road that leads to the campus. We leave and soon see Jeffrey a short way down the road. All accounted for, we arrive in Ivano in a little over an hour and a half. Waiting for us is the director of Teple Misto Center, Oksana Brynzak, with whom I had several zoom meetings prior to our visit this morning.
Teple Misto (meaning “warming center”) is a place of activity for several social services. It’s a platform for groups and the veteran’s hub space is one of them. Oksana and her team were on a large zoom call we had with Ukrainian and U.S. veterans in January 2025. Andriy Farmula is a civic activist and combat veteran who heads up the veterans’ hub here in Ivano. He also is a trainer with the “Pobratymy” project which focuses on addressing combat trauma from PTSD. In addition, Andriy also runs the Peer-to-Peer program at this hub. Just yesterday they completed a multi day session with veteran volunteers at the center in the Carpathian foothills that we will visit after our visit with Oksana and her team here in the city. Regrettably Andriy cannot join us today but Andrii Volydmyr, a young military veteran is at the hub. Turns out that he is not so young at 45. Oksana says that it is his special gift to look so young. I would have guessed him to be between 25-30. He has good genes and does good work as the veteran’s project manager.
Also there to greet us is Oksana Kobyletska, the Operations Manager; Yulia Turk, Communication manager; Yarn Mykytyn coordinator of the Reading Promotion Program, Textura; and Khrystyn Horna, Communications Specialist for the Reading Promotion Program. It is important to recognize all these young professionals who are part of making Ukraine sovereign and free. They are the present and indeed the future. Everyone has a role to play in veterans’ integration into civilian society. Solidarity like resilience is a key to the future. The Ukrainians only need to look across their border into Poland to understand this indisputable principle for defeating Russia.
Oksana begins her presentation talking about the value of the “credible messenger” principle in psychology. This program can be run in most any environment, but the holistic natural setting at Franca enhances the experience. For veterans and their families, it is a three- and five-day program. The vet program by itself is an eight-day program. The main goal is to provide psychological support in group and individual therapy sessions.
Here we learn about a new effort in Ukraine to memorialize all who have been killed in this war. Each day at 9am when the sirens go off, the country pauses and reflects. Later I wrote this short piece.
9 AM IN UKRAINE
It is 9am in Ukraine and it is the most powerful
Minute of the day.
At 9am each day the emergency sirens go off
And people everywhere stand in silence to reflect.
In schools, shops, factories, on the frontlines and
Rear guards, in the sunflower fields and houses of
Worship, in hospitals and drone factories, in grocery
Stores and food lines, on boulevards and village lanes
The nation is one.
Ukraine is a marvelous place. It has a collective
Soul that is as insightful and enriching as the wisest
And most compassionate places on our planet.
I wish you could all experience this place that
Embodies the best of who we are. Not perfect but
To be admired for its grit, wisdom, and sense of
Justice. And has a leader who walks with Giants
Like Mandela, King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa,
And Dorothy Day.
What a minute of silence can do.
So, when you are down about the state of our
Own country, remember that there are places
Like Ukraine whose aurora of light is too spectacular
To be defeated or broken. Hitch your hopes and
Dreams to Ukraine until we once again find our
Own magnetic balance, and are willing to fight for
It. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
(Frederick Douglas)
Veterans and their volunteers are reaching out to schools and businesses about the 9 am minute of reflection. Oksana took us through other Teple Misto activies including mentoring projects for veterans and job opportunities. It is quite impressive what they have achieved in the brief time they have been building a community for and by veterans.
We then drove to Franca in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. The climb gets steeper as we approach the retreat center. It is a beautiful day, and one can feel the new environment swallow some of the stress we are all carrying.
We are greeted by Volodymyr a war veteran and huge proponent of reaching harmony in the moment through nature. He explains to us that in nature there are two important things to remember and practice on nature hikes. 1) keep silent and 2) keep pace. Volodymyr did research on losses in Syria and Afghanistan. He believes that walking is necessary because it helps to concentrate one’s thoughts. He calls this nature power. Volodymyr has one other comment on nature that is worth thinking about. He said, “the first recovery is through your body. The second is through your brain.” Volodymyr practices ju jitsu. He says that the body and brain should work together to heal.
While we were at the retreat center, we were in the company of 8 family members who lost a loved one to the war. We met them at the end of our tour of the retreat house. The house had a workable kitchen that could provide meals for 30 plus. We were impressed by the large indoor meeting room, like a large living room, and the window view of the hills and then the mountains. Very peaceful. There is also an arts and crafts room for painting and creating. Did I see a piano near the living room? Perhaps. Research has shown the effectiveness of music as a therapeutic tool.
In addition, there are outdoor meeting areas on the property. A fireplace is available for all the chopped wood the veterans are providing for the retreat house and evening fires.
After a great lunch prepared by volunteers. We adjourn to the large living room with the spectacular view. Volodymyr talks with us about how they are working with veterans and their families. We are now mixed among the parents and siblings of those killed in the war. Volodymyr calls on an elderly gentleman who is perhaps in his sixties and who is a leader of the family contingent. Let’s call him Mykhailo for the purpose of this remembrance. Mykhailo is named after Michael the Archangel and protector of those in pain.
Mykhailo tells us his story. I am sitting twenty inches from him. When looking at him I am seeing his profile. I can feel his voice and the pain of not having his son. His son was a medical doctor; his name was Stephan. Mykhailo made a point of mentioning that Stephan had survived two revolutions, the Orange in 2005 and then the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14 where over a hundred protectors of sovereignty were killed by the authorities at the Maidan. And then trying to cement the courage of the Revolution of Dignity, Stephan, the patriot medical doctor, was killed fighting the Russians in 2016. It has been almost a decade, and Mykhailo is still in therapy along with other parents who lost a loved one in this war. As Mykhailo was in his quiet way explaining his son’s sacrifice, I watched as tears formed in his eyes. If I were not so close, I would not have seen it. His voice had not reflected his tears. It was soft but there were no cracks or chokes. But pain for sure.
After our session it was time to drive back to Lviv to catch our train to Odesa. Several people wanted me to accept the invitation to walk the river trail but if we did that there was a good chance we would miss our train and events in Odesa. I congratulated them on their new facility, and said, we were proud to contribute to it and the program, but we had other veterans waiting for us at the Black Sea. So, I promised, “Next time we are here we will make the walk our first order of business.”
DAY FOUR AND FIVE, WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY: ODESA
Our rush from Franca Hrazhda in the Carpathian foothills to the Lviv train station was complicated by the heavy rain and drop-offs for Jeffrey Wilson and Dr. Trupin. Jeffrey Wilson was heading home in Lviv and Dr. Trupin was taking the night train to Kyiv ahead of us but first needed to return to the campus. Finally, we were on our way to Odesa hooking up with John Fenzel and Ron Clark who had just finished good meetings in Poland, especially their visit with former American Ambassador to Poland Mark Brezezinski.
Jack and I made our train but just barely. I was paired with Ron in our small cabin, and Jack and John were in the cabin next to ours. We did not know each other very well so this gave us a chance to broaden our relationships. The train ride was not smooth. We were jostled about on our narrow beds by variations in the train’s speed and the condition of the track. Security concerns accounted for the uneven ride as we approached Odesa and, later in the week, Kyiv. As we approached both cities we paused. In Kyiv we heard the firing of weapons aimed at the attacking Russian drones and missiles as we came closer.
Our train left the Lviv station at 19:46 hrs and arrived in Odesa at about 6:07 am. JB booked us each a room that included the night we travelled so when we reached the Continental Hotel in Odesa, we could get more shuteye. Or if we preferred, start to explore this grand old city on the Black Sea.
This was my first visit to Odesa although I had been working with Slava Korbut, a UCU, student/scholar, living in Odesa and providing support to the 39th Brigade. This led to zoom meetings between the leaders at the 39th Brigade and myself. In these meeting I learned the history of the brigade, its record of valor in battle, and how they have initiated an active veterans’ hub mostly with volunteer support. Those who in addition to Slava who help arrange our day are Kosiura Oleksandr, Klymenko Yevhenii, Rulyak Ihor, and Shulga Ilya.
A word about the 39th Brigade. The 39th costal defenders are also known as the “Black Sea Cossacks” and have recently become part of the Ukrainian Marine Corp. After the full Russian invasion their local leaders, mostly from the Odesa Military Academy, trained over 2,000 Marines in two short months. They have distinguished themselves in many ways for their courageous and successful fighting in Russia’s invasion of Kherson, Ukraine during the 2023 counter-offensive campaign as well as the Dnieper campaign and fighting in Krynky. Their units have also been relentless in battle in the Chasiv Yar and Sumy, two extremely hot spots in the eastern Ukraine.
The 39th Brigade’s courageous and professional excellence on the battlefield is matched by their care for their brothers and sisters in arms and their families. Taking care of each other is fundamental, especially for wounded veterans and family members whose loved one died in battle.
The 39th Brigade for veterans Hub is in an older building at street level in Odesa. Once inside it bears the markings of a Veterans’ Hub. The walls display military memorabilia including a large cartoonish pin up of a sexy woman in a bikini with a helmet, pistol in one hand and an AK 47 in the other. Next to this drawing is a clothes rack with hats and T shirts for sale that have insignias of their brigade.
The room has a screen and recorder unit where we are shown their camp for vets and family members. Around a corner there is a smaller room with casings of fired Russian artillery shells with messages on them from the enemy. They stand lined up against the wall each about the two to three feet tall as reminders of the war.
The hub is in constant use for meetings and social gatherings. But most importantly also for group counseling.
People coming in and out including spouses and children. The Hub is also used for lectures, especially in the winter. It reminded me of an active veterans post in the USA.
The 39th Brigade also sponsors a camp similar in setting as the one we visited in the mountains outside of Ivano Frankivsk. Both have the same mission. And both see an integrated approach as the vehicle to healing which might include non-traditional healing techniques and medicines.
The camp/center is known as Goloka. It is a community, an eco- settlement, and an infrastructure and rehab center for veterans, their families and war victims. Dmytro Dokunov, the founder and head of the project Goloka said, “they strive to restore harmony between man, society and nature, as well as to preserve and develop our cultural heritage. It is also a space for living, socializing, meditating, and improving the life of Ukrainians.”
Who are these veterans and their families? We met them.
Stepan is a tall good-looking guy and is present with his wife. He was always athletic and still is today despite stepping on a mine and losing his foot while working reconnaissance in October of 2023. In October of 2024 he retired. He recently hiked to the highest peak in Ukraine, Hoverla (means “difficult to pass”) which is 6,762 feet. We were told that each year the warriors make their way to the top of Hoverla to plant a flag with the names of the Ukrainian combatants who were killed in the war that year.
Alex is a senior rifleman who lost his right leg above the knee. He spent one month in the hospital and ten months before he could walk with his prosthesis. Now he likes biking and hiking. His wife is at his side and gently cries as he tells us his story.
Another veteran worked before the war as a restaurant manager. He joined the military in 2023 and was wounded in the battle. He lost his right leg. It took eight months to heal. He started his prosthesis two months ago. Today he takes part in all the competitive athletics that 39th Brigade sponsors.
An older veteran, maybe 50, is a Sgt. Major, a high rank for a noncommissioned officer. He stepped on a mine and now does administrative work for his unit. I asked him about his future and he said, “life goes on. I will make the best of it.”
Nick an American from the Midwest said, “stop believing in the propaganda. People here are fighting for their cultural identity. Five thousand foreigners are here fighting for Ukraine.”
Yasha is from Odesa and was a rifleman. He was wounded and is constantly fighting bone infections from his wounds. John Frenzel asked him how he was doing. Yasha gave the thumbs up sign.
By the way, “How Are You Doing?” is the name of the mental health program that Olena Zelenska, the president’s wife leads. Again, demonstrating Ukrainian care for each other.
Olga Peskova is the new director of a mental health unit located not too far from the 39th Brigade Veteran’s Hub. It is brand spanking new. Olga has invited our group to share in a discussion of mental health needs with several practitioners and activists from England including a barrister who has taken it upon himself to lead an effort to provide motor vehicles to those fighting at the Front. They have obtained an amazing 500 such vehicles to date. Most of them have been sent to the front and used to evacuate the seriously wounded.
The third group in the discussion were psychologists who have been working with soldiers in the 39th Brigade.
Olga told us that she did not realize how great the need was for mental health support. Everyone who spoke mentioned doing mental health with the whole family—spouses and children. Camps provide an excellent setting for reaching out to all of them.
We have a robust discussion about getting a better handle on the degree of neurological brain damage to those on the front who are firing large, loud weapons. Ron Clark, a leader of troops in front line combat in Iraq, spoke to this issue and how many presumed to be struggling with PTSD may also have suffered brain damage in battle.
The discussion also examined the lack of trained psychologists in military affairs. A better and more robust attention for training is needed. That is why programs like the ones at UCU are critical for a nation at war. Elaine, a psychologist, said, “Guys come in here in an adaptive phase. They come here in a bad state but do feel better when they leave. But most guys need neurological assessments.”
There seemed to be a general agreement that the two weeks of counseling was not enough given the multiple rotations these fighters have gone through. The length of the rotations has been too long and too often.
All the psychologists spoke up and had kind words for the volunteer work of the 39th Brigade, especially the assimilation of the spouses and children. They also praised the “buddy system” for the wounded warriors which included providing them with clothing. When this generous practice of providing clothing began, one of the volunteers found a store going out of business which donated boxes of “Hawaiian shirts”. Eventually the receiving soldiers figured this out and they would get together for Hawaiian shirt night. It became a part of their camaraderie.
For the spouses and children of fallen soldiers, the Hub helps to find corporate or business partners who provide the family members with such services as dental care and travel opportunities to places and events.
For partners who were not married to the deceased soldiers, the Hub also includes them and any offspring in support services and adventure activities like river rafting. The camp also includes canine, feline, and equine therapy.
A monitored Kids on-line connection is also offered. The psychologists are volunteers to these counseling sessions as well as outdoor support for veterans engaged in nature adventures. The 39th brigade also helps to sponsor sports tournaments named in honor of a fallen colleague. °
Before we ended our day at the Veterans’ Hub, we had a chance to sit and talk with six cadets who are currently at the Maritime Academy. It has been a long-standing institution at this historic port city on the Black Sea. The fact that Ukraine has chased the Russians out of the Black Sea is a real tribute to their maritime program. It is indeed one of the major achievements Ukraine has had in this war. Of course, Ukraine’s ingenious development and use of drones at sea, on land, and in the air pushed Ukrainian know how to the highest levels of achievement and modernization. In the U.S., the tech gurus and military leaders send their people to Ukraine to better understand this fast-evolving form of warfare.
One of the older cadets was brought up in a military family. His father was in airborne reconnaissance. The son was a gifted athlete and ended up playing professional basketball in Ukraine and Europe. After five years of hoops the son followed his father and became a cadet at the academy where he is now finishing up.
Another cadet, Natasha, was always interested in the military and graduated from the academy this past summer. She is now waiting for orders. With her country in a life and death struggle to keep their sovereignty and democracy, she feels good about her choice and looks forward to her service.
Before we adjourned with the cadets, the issue of suicide came up. Jack Devine has been interested in this subject and has worked with a fellow U.S. veteran, Derek Blumke, who headed the Student Veterans of America. Derek’s concern is all the psycho medication that is now prescribed and the increase in veterans’ suicides in the U.S. Suicides have risen in lockstep with the increased use among veterans of such medication. U.S. use is not as bad as bad as the Russian dispensations of drugs during the Soviet era but abusive, nonetheless. The suicide rates in the U.S. between veterans and civilian populations continue to widen. The suicide rate among women veterans is 92% higher than nonveteran women. For male veterans, the rate is 60% higher. The National Veterans Suicide Prevention annual report (2024) states that an average of 17.6 American veterans die by suicide every single day.
In Ukraine there is no good data on suicides. It is a stigma for a family in Ukraine if one dies by suicide, as it is in many countries. Suicide in Ukraine like alcoholism and domestic violence are among the less visible scars of the war that have divided friends and families and even branches of the church. But it is a significant social problem that Ukraine needs to address as they march forward to reconstruct their country.
Our day with the 39th Brigade has been riveting. They have emphasized the full toll that war takes upon the warrior both mentally and psychically. In the course of our day, Jack observed that, “we should not kick people when they have lost a limb fighting for their country.” In Ukraine as in the United States we must honor the fallen.
LAST FOUR DAYS, FRIDAY, SATURDAY, SUNDAY, MONDAY:
KYIV
We leave Odesa at 21:00 hrs Thursday evening and arrive in Kyiv at 5:47am. At the outskirts of Kyiv our train pauses then stops. The night sky is filled with drones and missles headed for the capital city of 3 million. I have no recollection of
how long we waited before we resumed our trip to the central station. We get cabs at the station and head over to the Radisson Blu Hotel in Kyiv’s Podil City Center. We have paid for the rooms for the nightwe just missed. So, we get keys and try to sleep hoping the sirens do not resume with new attacks.
At 11:00 am on Friday we have a tour of the Maidan, the central historic square in the capital. Here great events have taken place since Ukraine’s independence including the Orange Revolution in 2004-05 and Revolution of Dignity in 2013-14.
We also learned the role the Kyiv underground subway played in the cold war. Our guide told us that the Kyiv Metro (subway) was built independent of the outside world. The first station was opened in November of 1960. It became the third metro system opened in the USSR after Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Built to withstand a direct nuclear hit, the Metro was stocked with food and water and could house over 200,000. The Moscow metro was built the same way.
The Arsenalna Station in Kyiv is the third deepest in the world at 346 feet. It was once the deepest—-one long escalator ride taking several minuted to reach the platform. Some of the stations have incredible mosaics and there are wondrous works of art like in the Zoloti Vorota station in Kyiv. It was designed to reflect the heritage of Kievan Rus and features 80 intricate mosaic artworks depicting medieval rulers and cultural symbols.
Ironically, now these very stations are used as bomb shelters by Ukrainians to protect them from Russian attacks.
That afternoon we had a meeting involving security. The rest of day was our own.
We sleep without disturbances Friday night. Saturday morning Dr. Eric Trupin has arranged for me to be interviewed for a documentary on PTSD. It is being made by our friend Julia Osmolovska who has held significant positions in the Ukrainian Government as well in the private sector, including Globsec. We discovered her to be an excellent interviewer.
I brought Ron and Jack with me to the park where the documentary was being filmed. Both Jack and Ron were asked to be interviewed and they were superb. Jack’s early history with working on issues like PTSD during and after Vietnam is important. Ron’s extensive knowledge of neuroscience and the effects of combat on the brain hi-lighted an important piece of the many complexities in unraveling brain damage in war.
Julia and her team are working on films about the effects of war trauma on children as well as combatants. This is the same audience we are targeting for our work. I saw commercials that Julia and her team have produced to educate the Ukrainian public about this debilitating illness. They are excellent and needed.
On Saturday afternoon another tour takes our team to Bucha and Irpin, the places were the local populace stopped the Russian army that was coming down into Ukraine from Belarus in February 2022. The price was high for the citizens of these neighboring suburbs to Kyiv. In Bucha after ambushing the invaders, the Russians retreated only to come back a few days later and commit mass murder of Ukrainian civilians. The Bucha Massacre included murder, torture, executions, looting and rape. The Ukrainian government reported 458 deaths while the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights puts the number at 73-178.
On an earlier visit in April 2024 our team toured Bucha for four hours talking with residents, teachers, military and other Bucha citizens. Our guide that day in 2024 was Lynne Weldon, an American teacher at the local public school in Bucha. She was with her husband Andriy, a Ukrainian journalist who had recently joined the army and was accompanying his wife dressed in his military fatigues.
In April of 2022 in the New York Times, I saw photos of some of those massacred in Bucha. One was a photo of a Ukrainian woman standing in her yard with hand over her mouth looking horrified as she gazed down at her murdered relatives. The caption identified her as a Gavryluk. That is my mother’s family name. At the Orthodox Church in Bucha there is an outdoor memorial with all the names of the murdered Ukrainians from that massacre. I went there to pay my respects to those who died and to remember their heroism together with the citizens of Irpin in stopping the Russian Army.
THE RUSSIAN AIR ATTACK ON KYIV
Over the course of our visits to Ukraine these last three years we took shelter when the sirens alerted us. We had previously been in the UCU Inn on campus in Lviv or in a hotel in Kyiv. This time it was different as the attack was long and intense. Russia fired more than 600 drones and missiles at targets across Ukraine—one of the largest barrages of the war. And Kyiv was once again a prime target.
I was awaked by the sirens that went off on my I-phone in the middle of the night. Remembering that the Russians were firing supersonic missiles that left little or no time to react, I hustled with my pillow and blanket downstairs into the lobby and followed the signs to the shelter which turned out to be an underground parking and delivery space. There were only a handful of people in the shelter when I arrived. These attacks happen often enough that the hotel had configured an area for guests in the garage that had couches, chairs, and tables with lights for those interested in reading or doing work. Soon a couple dozen others, mostly a group of Japanese visitors, began to fill up the seating options. I took a table with chairs and then began reading material I brought with me. Eventually I ended up spreading my blanket on the concrete floor and tried to get back to sleep. We could hear the missiles from our bunker if we were close enough to the drive that opened up to the street. Some guests of the hotel stayed in the lobby and used the sofas to continue their sleep. You definitely could hear the drones and missiles from the lobby. I decided that deeper into the shelter was the safest place to be.
This exercise went on and off all night and into the daylight morning hours of Sunday. Over the course of three hours, we went back and forth between the shelter, our rooms, the restaurant, and the shelter again. In the end the hotel kitchen brought us breakfast in the shelter. That is life during war.
These attacks have become numerous and regular. Most people, I am told, do not heed them and instead roll the dice. You can imagine a family with small children having to hustle to shelters interrupting their sleep. Ukraine is a seriously sleep deprived population. Speaking of family with children, Ukraine has already gone to underground schools since the Russians constantly ignore international law and target schools, places of worship, hospitals, houses, and apartment buildings.
In the attack this night and now into the morning, the press reported four people killed in Kyiv including a 12-year-old and 42 others injured in the capital and surrounding areas. Drones were being shot down over the capital on Sunday morning. The barrage was the third largest reported by the Ukrainian Air Force since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Air Force said that Russia fired 595 drones and 48 missiles including two ballistic missiles and powerful cruise missiles.
The air defenses had shot down or suppressed 43 cruise missiles and “the vast majority of drones.” Ukraine had just recently received from Israel a Patriot missile defense system, and they are getting two more Patriot systems from Germany before the year ends.
A haze of smoke from explosions could be seen lingering over the capital on Sunday morning. CNN reported that as the Russian attacks continued, residents walked their dogs and ran morning errands. Residential buildings were attacked and President Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, called the attacks “a war against civilians.”
SUPERHUMANS MEETING IN KYIV
Ron and John were not present for our tour of Superhumans in Lviv. But Ron had contacts with the Kyiv Superhumans program and arranged for us to meet with Dennis. Dennis volunteered for military service one day after the full invasion. In a fierce battle his division had many fatalities. Of 118 Ukraine combatants only 30 survived. In that battle Dennis lost both legs just above the knee and also an arm from an explosion. Medical people said he was not going to make it. But one surgeon believed that he could and would live. Dennis now walks on his superhuman legs. He became a psychologist and now works with other veterans as a mental health counselor. He attributes support from his family, a girl friend and others as critical in helping him get thru mental and physical challenges. Dennis is presently working to construct a camp for disabled veterans near Odesa. He is an amazing individual and role model for others who are healing from the wounds of war.
The only other triple amputee I knew was U.S. Senator Max Cleland from Georgia who lost his limbs when a grenade exploded next to him in Vietnam. Max was a remarkable human being. After earning his master’s degree from Emory University, Cleland served-in the U.S. Army from 1965-68 and attained the rank of Captain. He also was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star for valorous actions in combat including the Battle of Khe Sahn. After he returned from Vietnam, having lost three limbs, he was just 25 years old. Now he faced a battle to recover from his injuries. He eventually healed enough to enter politics in Georgia. In 1971 he was sworn into the Georgia Senate. He became a strong advocate for veteran’s issues. From 1977 to 1981 Max Cleland became the Administrator of the U.S. Veterans Administration, a cabinet ranking position. That is when I was elected to Congress. We had the same goals for our veterans and ended up working together, Max as the Administrator of the VA and I as the founder and chair of the Vietnam Veterans in Congress.
Max was a serious fellow and an accomplished leader in our government. He also had a sense of humor. In his unsuccessful run for Lt. Governor of Georgia during Watergate in 1974, Max had a campaign slogan that proclaimed, “Vote for Cleland! He can only get one hand in the till.”
I never realized the degree to which life became so much more difficult until I read a piece that described each step of Max Cleland’s morning routine. It was a two-hour process of maneuvering one’s body with one arm and no legs. Think of the effort it took to get the prostheses on. Then there are the other parts of getting ready for work that we all take for granted—the shirt getting buttoned, the tie being tied, the wheelchair being maneuvered! Where most people can get ready in 15 minutes, it took Max a couple of hours everyday.
But people like Max and Dennis have gone on to make a significant difference not only in their own lives but in the many who need their example to live a productive life.
DINNER WITH KEVIN AND AUDI
My friend and Ukrainian American heroine, Emily Rutkowski, introduced me to Kevin Leach and Annan Rana Audi. Both Kevin and Audi are veterans. Kevin is a retired Canadian Armed Forces Sergeant and Audi spent years in the U. S. Marine Corp. Both found Ukraine when during the full-scale invasion in 2022, President Zelensky issued an invitation to veterans and fighters from other nations to join the Ukrainian cause and fight the Russian invaders. Kevin and Audi responded along with others from around the globe. They eventually settled into training Ukrainians and others who had come to support Ukraine.
In March of 2024 in our group’s second visit to Ukraine we met up with Kevin and Audi to watch new Ukrainian soldiers train at a base in the central part of Ukraine. We interacted with the trainers and saw basic combat and survival skills being taught to new recruits. We were not at the front but were getting a small taste of the skills combatants were learning as they advanced through a wooded area.
I have stayed in touch with both Kevin and Audi on a regular basis for the last two years. On Sunday September 28, 2025, the evening after the large Russian air attack on Kyiv, our group at my invitation met Kevin and Audi to get their impressions of the war. Earlier in our visit we had met with other combatants to get their assessments, but those discussions were off the record and not for public discussion.
Kevin formed Sabre Training Advisory Group, a joint Ukrainian-Western not-for-profit founded in November 2022.
It is staffed entirely by vetted volunteers with NATO or allied military experience. Sabre delivers NATO-aligned training in Ukraine, adapted to the realities of its battlefields. Officially recognized as a partner of the Ukrainian National Guard, it has also worked with multiple brigades across the Ground Forces and the National Guard. One of its missions is to drive the modernization of training design and development to improve NATO interoperability. In other words, if we want to be part of the NATO coalition then we must fit in with how NATO works.
Over the past two years of talks with Kevin he has argued that the forces that are trained by Sabre have a 60% casualty reduction from troops that were not trained by them. That is why training matters especially for Ukraine since it’s pool of combatants is smaller than the Russian pool. Sabre has trained thousands of Ukrainian fighters.
Our discussion at dinner centered on “Why Training Matters”. Both John Felzer and Ron Clark have had an abundance of combat experiences. It was good to listen to the back-and-forth discussion on issues that may decide the outcome of this war and the future of Ukraine in a NATO coalition.
Audi is particularly knowledgeable about drones, so his insights are extremely valuable given how wars are now fought. Well spoken and committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and democracy, Audi continues his valuable service to Ukraine and its western alliance.
SAVE UKRAINE AND CARITAS MTGS.
It is Monday, September 29, 2025, and our last full day in Ukraine. The day starts with two important visits to organizations that do amazing work for the people of Ukraine. We leave our hotel for a 20-minute cab ride to Hatne a suburb of Kyiv, where Save Ukraine has moved their campus there. The rent in their city’s Hope and Reconciliation Center became too expensive.
We arrive and are greeted by Ksenia and Olga. I have worked with Ksenia for the past two years, and we had met in their former facility in Kyiv. Olga is now part of the staff and has closer ties with veterans. Save Ukraine is primarily focused on children, both disabled children and those who have trauma from their abduction by the Russians. After the children have been kidnapped they are taken to camps in Occupied Crimea for indoctrination before they are fostered or adopted out to Russian families. Save Ukraine works on rescuing these children and reuniting them with their families in Ukraine.
Many of the rescued children have not seen their families for two years or more. So, they suffer trauma from the confusion of their situations and indoctrinations they have been receiving from the Russians.
At their Hatne campus they work also with mentally and physically disabled children. In an hour tour of the campus, we saw the interaction of staff with these disabled children. Two staff members Tina and Alisa have children of their own with disabilities and are very helpful with the other parents. In addition, there are 40 on staff with ten psychologists. As I have noted before this is the organization for which Dr. Trupin had organized a therapeutic program. It vanished with Trump’s evisceration of U.S. AID. Eric and I have been working together to try to find funds to replace what Trump has destroyed.
We tour their art center and talk with the psychologist who runs it. We also talk with other staff in the activities building, some of whom have disabled children in these programs.
Save Ukraine has housing for kids, orphans, and families in eleven regions in Ukraine. A Ukrainian Manufacturer builds these shelter units. It’s simple housing that gives the homeless shelter. We visited with a grandmother, and her 34 year-old-son who lost his legs and is now in wheelchair. He also lost his wife to the war so he is looking for prostheses that will help him find work so he can care for his mother and young son.
The founder of Save Ukraine is Mykola Kubela. He is a Ukrainian statesman, children’s rights activist and humanitarian. He helped to pioneer the children’s rights movement and initiated child welfare reforms and legislation to move Ukraine away from the Soviet-era policies. In addition to being a co-founder of Save Ukraine, he is the President of Ukraine’s Commissioner for 8
After a lunch break near the Caritas Center in Kyiv, Jack, John, Antoniia and I walked over to the Caritas office a few blocks away. We meet with Oksana Volhina and her team to discuss veterans and the new therapy program they have instituted with our help in the city of Zhovkva, Ukraine near the Polish border.
Caritas is the charitable arm of the Catholic Church in a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development and social service organizations working in over 200 countries and territories worldwide. It does ‘amazing work for people in need, Catholic and non-Catholic. It is in my estimation the heart of the Catholic Church. Caritas was crucial in the refugee relief in Poland and Ukraine after the Russian full invasion in February 2022. Their work feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, consoles the depressed and confused, educates the children, and embraces the dispossessed—Mathew 25 stuff. Yes, The Catholic Church has its faults, some of them grievous, deplorable, and shocking. But also, an army of angels— sisters of mercy and justice, the brothers of shelter and goodness, priests of forgiveness and light, and those perched on high like Francis and Leo. These are the people who keep the flame of the church alive and keep people like me from divorcing myself from its waywardness.
In Ukraine, Caritas is working throughout the country in more than thirty different places. Their range of operation gives them an opportunity to be an effective conduit of needed services and reforms. It is why I sought their support in providing support for veterans and their families. Up until recently Caritas was more focused on civilians than military concerns. But they have come to understand that categorizing and segregating the veteran from the rest of the population is not a winning strategy. Veterans and soldiers have the same needs as civilians. And the best way to embrace them is through their family.
Over the past year we have been working with Oksana, Irina, Maryanna and Tetiana Riabokin to do a mental health program that encompasses the family unit. Caritas has initiated a program in a camp in Zhovkva. The goal of the project is to enhance mental health, psychosocial well-being, and social connectivity. There are 25 participants in the program from Zhovkva that will participate in the retreat in early November 2025. There will be subsequent follow-up psychological consultations.
We are hopeful that Zhovkva will be successful and can be a model for Caritas to embrace other families throughout Ukraine.
LEAVING UKRAINE: GOING HOME
After our meeting with Caritas we returned to our hotel, gathered our luggage and went to the hotel lobby to read and chat until we left for the train station for our night train to Poland. It had been an exhausting yet very moving and productive trip.
Then on Friday, Oct 31, I woke up to a text message from Ukraine informing me of the sad news that Oksana Bryndzak, the head of (“Warm City”, Teple Misto) had died in a car crash on Wednesday. I was stunned as I had shared texts with her on Wednesday. We were already thinking about our next collaboration for Ivano Frankivsk and the Teple Misto Center. She was 29 years of age, a psychologist by training and a champion of veterans as well as an urban strategist for Ivano Frankivsk. She also taught at Ukraine Catholic University. Oksana was wonderful to work with. We will keep her in our thoughts and prayers.
In reflecting about Oksana, I was thinking about Ukraine’s future. Her spirit and passion for Ukraine and its people are contagious. In my travels around the globe, I have never felt as positive about a country’s future as I do about Ukraine’s. The Ukrainian people share Oksana’s hopes and dreams. We saw them and talked to them wherever we visited. She was a heroine for her community and her country. She hired and trained good people at the veterans’ hub who I am confident will continue her important work in her memory.
In partnership with the Ukrainian veterans’ community, we also will keep the dream alive that Ukraine continues on the path to ensure that it stays a sovereign and free nation where peace and justice prevail.
