Breaking: Civilian Effort to Rescue Americans from Ukraine Underway

- February 24, 2022

Volunteers with the civilian rescue organization Project Dynamo have started evacuating Americans from Ukraine on the heels of the Russian army's invasion of the country early Thursday.

A bus and two cars carrying about two dozen Americans departed from Kyiv just after the first explosions in the city, and after reports of Russian troops and armor crossing the Belarus border, said James Judge, a Project Dynamo volunteer and spokesman.

"They felt the explosions," Judge said. "They've reported that they've seen missiles fly over."

Judge said the Dynamo convoy took an alternate route out of Kyiv to avoid the largest traffic snarls. But that route took them though some difficult countryside terrain, marked by muddy roads and large potholes. At least one of the Dynamo vehicles was temporarily stuck, Judge said. "It hasn't been without its challenges," he said.

Judge said he didn't know if the Dynamo convoy has encountered any Russian troops.

Project Dynamo is one of the dozens of civilian groups that organized last summer to help rescue Americans and American allies from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Leaders of the privately-funded group began preparing for potential operations in Ukraine as tensions rose through the winter. In mid-February, the U.S. government warned Americans to evacuate Ukraine, and warned that the U.S. military was not prepared to rescue Americans who failed to make the "responsible choice" to flee before the Russian invasion.

"For an outfit like Project Dynamo, that's a perfect space for us to operate in," Dynamo's founder, Bryan Stern, told National Review last week. "What we learned from the Afghanistan situation is, when you tell people to leave, number one, they don't always listen. And number two, there's always stragglers. There's always, 'Well I lost my passport.' There's always, 'My mother's very sick and I can't leave her.' There's always, 'I didn't think it was real. I hedged my bet. I have a business in Ukraine. I'm not going to abandon ship.' … All of that stuff."

Project Dynamo Ukraine — Bryan Stern and Stan Bunner, volunteers with the civilian rescue group Project Dynamo, traveled to Ukraine this week to help rescue Americans if the Russian army invades.

Stern, who traveled to Eastern Europe last week, said he decided to get involved in Ukraine after he was contacted by one of his donors who has people inside the country. Judge said the two dozen people in the first convoy was a mix of referrals, people who reached out to Project Dynamo directly, and Americans they encountered on the ground. One of the evacuees, a Ukrainian-American from New Mexico, just flew into Ukraine this week to attend the funeral of her father.

"Now she's getting out with Dynamo," he said. "These life events happen."

Judge said Dynamo started putting boots on the ground in and around Ukraine starting in December, to start building human infrastructure and physical infrastructure in the country; networking, securing safehouses and vehicles, and lining up drivers.

"It takes a mix of people to help with moving people," he said. "They've been doing that for several weeks, researching routes, getting a feel for what's on the ground."

The number of Americans in Ukraine who have reached out for help has increased dramatically over the past 24 hours, Judge said. About 100 people have reached out via the Project Dynamo website, but easily another 100 have reached out on social media, email, and in other ways, he said. "That's growing constantly. It's doubled since this morning," Judge said.

There were likely thousands of Americans in Ukraine at the time of the invasion. Once the first evacuation effort is complete, Project Dynamo volunteers are planning more, Judge said.

Russia began shelling virtually every major Ukrainian population center early Thursday, including the capital city of Kyiv; Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine; and Odessa, a strategically valuable southern port city. The aerial bombardment was swiftly followed by a ground incursion. Later in the day, Russian forces captured the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and an international cargo airport outside of Kyiv.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has called on citizens to defend the nation.

President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russia on Thursday, and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is the aggressor in the war, which he called a long-planned attack. "Putin chose this war," Biden said. "And now he and his country will bear the consequences."

The sanctions, targeting Russian banks, the Russian financial system, and Russian elites, among others, were designed to maximize the long-term impact on Russia, while minimizing the impact on the U.S. and its allies, Biden said. Putin, he said, "will be a pariah on the international stage." He called the war "a dangerous moment for all of Europe."

"America stands up to bullies. We stand up for freedom," Biden said. "This is who we are."