Update on Alex in Ukraine

 I have been asked by several people to provide an update regarding my friend Alex who I wrote about several days ago.  Alex took his wife and daughters to the Polish border last Saturday (Feb 26).  The wife and daughters went to Łódź, Poland, while Alex then returned to Zhytomyr, Ukraine.  Since then, I’ve talked to them numerous times and I’d just like to provide an update.

Alex’s wife and daughters returned to Alex’s brother’s house in Łódź, Poland (I’m not going to use anyone’s name except Alex’s in order to protect their privacy).  There are a large number of Ukrainian refugees in Łódź and Alex’s wife is networking with them.  She’s a clinical psychologist so, as time allows, she’s using her skills to counsel some of these refugees.  As we can imagine, there’s a very high level of stress and anxiety among these folks.  They’ve suddenly been displaced to a foreign land, and they have no idea what the future holds.  Alex’s wife is cheerfully putting her talents to work to help them.

She’s also helping to evacuate more people from Zhytomyr into Poland.  Yesterday she spent a great deal of time trying to find ways to evacuate an elderly couple from Zhytomyr.

The Polish government is providing a certain amount of support to these refugees.  The wife and daughters went to the store yesterday to buy a few clothing items.  They were forced to leave Ukraine with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs.  While they were going to a relative’s house, they’re still struggling to gather all the supplies they’ll need.

Alex’s wife is acutely aware of the destruction that’s going on back in Ukraine.  She mentions that it’s very quiet and peaceful in Łódź and she feels a little guilty that she’s in such an environment when Alex is back in Ukraine right in the middle of the danger.

Alex is back in Zhytomyr and he’s pretty busy right now.  He wrote me yesterday saying that he’s very busy making sandbags and then stacking the sandbags into walls and other defensive-type structures.  He’s been surprised at how quickly he learned how to do this efficiently.  A sandbag wall has to be built just so, with holes at just the right height so a rifle can have a place to shoot through.  He’s quickly become proficient with this.  Alex has joked that he’s stunned how fast a truckload of sand can be emptied into sandbags when the situation is so desperate!

Crews of Zhytomyr men are going through the city making sandbag defenses in this way.  They are already accustomed to the sound of the air raid sirens and don’t let them slow their work.  Alex, as well as the other men, have learned that it is absolutely critical to complete this work with a smile!  They have to do everything they can to keep their spirits up, otherwise they will crumble.  The camaraderie that is growing among these men is incredible and strong bonds are being forged.

They are well aware that the outskirts of Kyiv are only 70 miles to the east.  Of course, Kyiv is one of the locations that the Russians are heavily targeting, and the city is slowly being encircled.  2 days ago, on the east edge of Zhytomyr on the road to Kyiv, a bridge was blown up.  The Ukrainians were at that point still in control of this highway but I don’t know what the situation is by now.

Supplies on the shelves at the stores are dwindling; bread is already all gone.  Fuel and diesel are all gone.  Some people had been stockpiling food because they suspected this was coming.  For now, Alex is OK as far as food goes.

Last night, (for us in USA the night, in Ukraine it was daytime on Wednesday, 2 March) missiles hit an area on the east side of Zhytomyr.  We don’t know exactly what the missiles were targeting but extensive damage was done to a hospital.  I don’t know exactly what to call it – it’s not a hospital exactly, it’s a birth center – a facility that just provides care and services for birthing mothers.  The missiles were perhaps targeting an area across the street from this facility, but everything’s gone now.  Early estimates are that 2 are dead and 16 wounded.  Among these casualties are several children.

Each minute, Alex’s situation becomes more precarious.  The Russian army continues to advance and even though the Ukrainians are putting up a heroic stand, they are severely underpowered.  Please contact your congressional representatives right now and put pressure on them.  Please consider donating to a reputable charity like the MCC, Catholic Charities, or Heart to Heart International.  Also, please see this list of charities for more options.

How to Donate to Help Ukraine

 If you are looking for good places to donate to help the situation in Ukraine, please consider this information:

War on the Horizon

 Volhynia is a region of northwestern Ukraine.  Most Americans aren’t familiar with it, but it’s been around in various forms since the 10th century or so.  Some cities in Volhynia have celebrated 1,000-year anniversaries.  It’s an out-of-the-way place in more ways than one; the people in Volhynia are genuine, hard-working, and free. 

Over the past year I’ve come to know several people in Volhynia, mostly living in the area surrounding the ancient city of Ostrog.  This is a little-known area, and it doesn’t play into modern politics much.  It’s not rich in resources like the Donbas, it’s not consequential in the way Kyiv or Odessa are.  But this is the heart of Ukraine like few other places in the country.  People here still wear the Vyshyvanka (just Google it), they worship God in traditional wooden churches with onion domes, they appreciate the sunrise.

The culture in Ostrog, and Volhynia, and Ukraine, owes not a jot to Russia.  It may be true that modern-day Ukraine’s borders were to an extent drawn by the Soviets, but Ukraine has its own distinctive language, cuisine, literature, architecture, and folklore, all of which pre-dates Russia.  If Moscow is first mentioned in the 12th century, Kyiv can be traced back to the 5th century.  Ostrog itself pre-dates Moscow and is home to one of the oldest academies of higher learning in the Slavic world – much older than any university in Russia.  It was also here that the first Bible was printed in a Slavic language.  If you’re trying to claim that Ukraine or Volhynia owe anything of their culture to Russia or Moscow, you’re straight up wrong and you can just go jump in a lake.

Today, Ostrog is not an important center in Ukraine in any way (except, arguably, culturally).  The invading Russian army is probably not too interested in the place except for the presence of the nearby nuclear power plant, which is one of four such power plants in Ukraine.  Although it lacks importance, the Russians will still need to consolidate their presence in the country by securing places like Ostrog and so Russian soldiers are beginning to make appearances.  A small battle has been fought already at nearby Slavuta and the occasional Russian helicopter flies overhead.

Yuri is one of my best friends in the area.  He’s a schoolteacher at the lyceum a dozen miles south of Ostrog in the large village of Pluzhne and be likes to hunt mushrooms and hike in the woods in his spare time.  He lives with his wife and their Siberian Husky in a small, simple house.  Just he and his wife – the first one home from work gets to light the wood stove to heat the house for the evening.  Even in this out-of-the-way village, Yuri has several times already visited a local bomb shelter when the sirens in Pluzhne sounded.  Yuri’s two grown children live in Kyiv, 4 hours to the east by car.  Yuri’s son is an active-duty soldier in the capital and will fight to the death to protect his homeland.  He is right now active in the battle for Kyiv.  His daughter may be a little less robust.  On Thursday, Yuri drove to Kyiv to fetch her back to Pluzhne.  She was frazzled after the last few days in the city – she hadn’t slept and was extremely anxious if any loud noise sounded.  Hopefully she’s safe now in the village.

Sergey is another friend, also living in Pluzhne.  He’s a lecturer at the ancient academy in Ostrog specializing in criminal law.  Sergey is a scholar and an intellectual and has a great interest in the history of the local area.  He has also visited bomb shelters in the past days and is now active spreading information using tools such as Facebook.  Sergey warns of saboteurs in the area who leave marks indicating rendezvous locations for Russian military.  He has also pointed out that clerics in churches of the Moscow Patriarchate may not be totally on the level right now.  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is currently split, one patriarchate based in Moscow and one in Kyiv.  Be wary of those from Moscow.  Sergey can also tell you exactly how to make a Molotov Cocktail and precisely where to aim it to inflict the most damage as you hurl it towards a Russian tank.  

Alexander is a very interesting man living on a farm just outside Ostrog.  His day job is farming but he spends an inordinate amount of time promoting tourism in Ostrog.  The town is the Youth Capital of Ukraine for the year 2022 and it was Alexander’s dream to establish several different programs locally which would spur tourism and help grow the economy.  Since mid-day on Thursday the 25th, Alexander has been helping to patrol the local roads near Ostrog.  He served in active-duty military for many years and experienced combat during the 2014 Russian incursion which saw the annexation of Crimea.  Alexander is happy to help patrol Ostrog but bemoans the lack of effective weaponry.  He is currently patrolling with a hunting rifle, stopping suspicious vehicles on the roads outside Ostrog; one of many local men keeping the town safe. 

Alexander took this photo this morning.  It depicts a beautiful sunrise in Ostrog, but just beyond that horizon, lies battle and destruction in the form of the Russian military.  It’s coming.

The lives of these three friends are hanging from threads right now.  They may not be involved in heavy battle, like Yuri’s son is in Kyiv.  But they hear the rumbling and they can feel it coming.  It won’t be long now.

These are real people who just a week ago were living their simple, small-town lives.  Now their worlds have been turned upside down and they honestly don’t know if they’ll survive another week.  They are all fiercely proud of their country – they have every right to be – and they will fight tooth and nail to save it.  We in the West might have a hard time envisioning what’s going on in Ukraine right now but the fact is that ordinary people, just like us, are suffering and that’s only going to get worse.  Our government leaders are not doing enough yet to stop this evil invasion.  Please contact your congressional leaders right now and demand action.

Ukraine Invaded

 My journey through my family genealogy has led me to meet a great many people all around the world.  With the events of the past several days – namely the aggressive Russian invasion of Ukraine – the lives of several dear Ukrainian friends have come into sharp focus.  Here in USA, the news we’re getting about the invasion is on a macro level; so far, we’re hearing about specific areas of conflict, what the Russian battle plans might be, or how the West hopes to respond.  So far, I have seen very little information on the micro level – about how this diabolical incursion by Russia is affecting normal Ukrainians.  But it’s very important for those of us in the West, safe in our suburban enclaves, to understand that real people are suffering right now… and they need help.

My friend Alex is a man from the Volhynian city of Zhytomyr.  Zhytomyr is located about 75 miles due west of Kyiv and with a population of just over 250,000, is one of the more important cities in west-central Ukraine.  Alex is an historian and a tour guide.  He has helped me for years to access archives here and there in Ukraine and produced documents for me which have helped to greatly enhanced my knowledge of my ancestors.  Alex used to work as an archivist in Zhytomyr but in recent years has been primarily a tour guide taking descendants of German settlers to their ancestral villages.  

Alex lives with his wife, Vika, and two daughters and they are a picture-perfect family.  COVID hit them hard and Vika was sick for a long time.  She’s finally recovering nicely and is able to get back to the family’s other passion – their work for charity.  Both Alex and Vika are instrumental with their work for Samaritan Ministries in Ukraine.  The organization has been active for almost 30 years helping under-privileged people in Ukraine in a number of different ways.

But then came the Russian invasion of February 24.  On the 25th, I messaged Alex to see if he was safe.  His reply came almost immediately – he with his wife and daughters, along with 2 or 3 other families, had traveled to Ustylúh which is a town on the Ukrainian-Polish border.  Alex’s brother lives in Poland, so the family’s goal was to go to Poland to avoid the war.  Approaching Ustylúh, they found that the line to cross the border was about 10 kilometers long.  As they began their wait in line, Alex discovered that he would not be allowed to cross the border.  An order had been issued by the Ukrainian government that no Ukrainian males between the ages of 18 to 60 would be allowed to leave – they were all necessary for the defense of the country.

Alex’s heart sank as he realized that he would be separated from his family.  His brother was already waiting for his family on the Polish side of the border, and when they reached the head of the line to be processed, Vika and the girls would be allowed to cross the border – but Alex would have to remain in Ukraine.  Thus began an excruciating wait.  As their place in line drew nearer and nearer to the border, Alex knew that his time with his family was growing ever shorter.  After they crossed the border, would he ever see them again?  He would return to Ukraine to place his life on the line for the defense of Ukraine… and his family would be safe in Poland.  But would this be the last goodbye?

After a 35-hour wait, Alex hugged his wife and daughters for the last time.  They put on brave faces and took a quick group photo.  I can’t even begin to imagine the emotions involved with this nightmare situation.  Vika and the girls safely met Alex’s brother on the other side of the border and Alex, heartbroken, was left on the east side to find his way back to Zhytomyr any way he could.

The roads across the countryside in Ukraine are particularly dangerous since the invasion.  The locals are setting up checkpoints to stop all vehicles since the presence of saboteurs is already well-established.  These saboteurs are Russian sympathizers who seek to infiltrate the countryside and pave the way for the Russian military.  They’re leaving paint marks on roads or tying ribbons on trees to mark military rendezvous points.  Locals are destroying these markers when they find them and beginning to check every vehicle’s purpose.  Alex was looking at a 275-mile hitchhike trip across dangerous countryside.  

Alex walked for about 10km until some good people on their way to Radomyshl picked him up.  When I last checked with him, he was walking the remaining distance to his home.  It was an excruciating journey but he’ll make it.  

He doesn’t know what to expect when he gets home.  His wife and daughters were turned into refugees and he, a scholarly historian, has been turned into a soldier.  He is happy to fight for his beloved homeland but it’s not really what he was cut out to do.  He’ll meet up with friends in Zhytomyr and help prepare defenses.  And as the Russians advance, the danger to his own well-being increases.  Vika and the girls are safe in Łódź, Poland – for now.

This innocent family has been torn apart – just like thousands of others in Ukraine.  Alex will bravely put his life on the line for the defense of Ukraine – just like thousands of other Ukrainian men are doing.  What is the West doing to alleviate the situation?  Not enough.  Feckless Western leaders have sat on their hands for years while Putin has prepared the way for such an invasion.  We could easily follow the thread of events over the last 10-15 years that have led to Putin finally feeling empowered enough to launch this incursion.  Western leaders stand poised to just let this atrocious tyrant recklessly violate Ukraine’s sovereignty.  They’ll level sanctions at Putin.  Yeah, that oughta do the trick.  Please.  I’m just some guy living a quiet life in the Midwest USA and I can tell you from here that the only thing Putin understands is boots on the ground.  Sanctions will do nothing and after Ukraine falls and all the Ukrainians begin to suffer fates similar to Alex, then Lithuania and Estonia and Latvia… and Poland, are next.

Слава Україні!

Героям слава!

Слава Україні!

 The majority of the Low German Mennonites in Volhynia lived near the town of Ostrog. During the 20th century, this area was no stranger to the presence of the military, and it drew (and continues to draw) its share of strategic attention.

· After 1921, the map of the area was redrawn and Karolswalde found itself located directly on the Polish-Soviet border. At this time, the village was re-name Prykordonne, a term roughly equivalent to “border”. Much smuggling across the border into Poland occurred here.

· Pluzhnyansky District, to which the Mennonite village of Fürstendorf (Lilewa) belonged, was home to much violence. In the early 1920s, anti-Bolshevik insurgents operated in the area and carried out attacks on numerous villages. In 1930, a peasant uprising centered at Pluzhne included 22 local villages.

· During the build-up to World War II, the Stalin Line was built and this passed right through the Ostrog area. This was a line of concrete bunkers designed to provide fortification against German invasion. Deserted bunkers of the Stalin Line are located in the Mennonite villages of Fürstendorf (Lilewa) and Jadwanin. During World War II, several battles were fought in this very area.

· In 1959, the USSR established a military base at nearby Slavuta. This base would become a home to the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces which controlled the USSR’s land based inter-continental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). R-5M missiles, and later RSD-10 Pioneer-UTTKh missiles, all equipped with nuclear warheads, were stationed here until 1991. Tens of thousands of tons of ammunition were kept here.

· While no longer a major home to military, the Ostrog area is still today the site of one of Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants. Nearby Netishyn is home to the Khmelnytskyi Nuclear Power Plant which houses two nuclear reactors.

The fiercest battles of this week’s invasion are near Kyiv and in the Donbas but there is action in Volhynia too. I have a lot of good friends in the Ostrog area. These friends have been called to bomb shelters several times already. Russian forces have arrived in Shepetivka, about 25 miles se from Ostrog, and explosions have racked the airport at Rivne, about 25 miles nw from Ostrog. Folks are volunteering computers, suitcases, first aid kits, automobiles, etc., to the local military units. Others are already seeking transportation to the Polish border. Police are advising people to be on the lookout for Russians, masquerading as locals, who are scouting for the Russian military. The locals are to report any suspicious people or vehicles. These saboteurs have left marks - painted spots on the ground or bits of ribbon tied to trees - identifying places for Russian military to rendezvous. Every Ukrainian is vowing to fight for their homeland and for their freedom. I’m praying right now specifically for Alex, Sergey, Yuri, Marina, Alyona, Natasha, Alexander, Ludmila, Tetiana, Natalia, and their families.  At the same time I'll admit that I'm cursing feckless western politicians and bureaucrats.  Слава Україні!