Dispatch from Ukraine: Far from home, not far from the front

Ashland High School history teacher Paul Huard points to a map of Ukraine. Ashland.news photo by Holly Dillemuth
July 1, 2023

Ashland High teacher, freelance reporter makes his way to volunteer post in Ukraine

Editor’s note: Ashland High School teacher and Ashland.news freelance reporter Paul Huard is volunteering this summer in Ukraine. Here’s the first of several dispatches about his experience.

By Paul R. Huard for Ashland.news

KRAKOW, Poland, June 29, 2023 – The first thing you need to understand is that, for an American, the road to Ukraine is a long one — a very long one — that stretches 5,600 miles in the air and on rail and even in a cab.

Paul Huard

You cannot directly fly to Ukraine. Russia’s war against the nation makes air travel there impossible. In 2014, when the invasion of Ukraine actually began, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was shot down by Russian-controlled forces, killing all 298 people on board. 

Since February last year when the war escalated, Russia has made it abundantly clear that attacking civilian targets is simply part of their calculus of warfare.

So, you cannot fly to Ukraine. But you can fly to Seattle, travel on a jetliner from there to Frankfurt, Germany, catch a connecting flight from Frankfurt to a convenient city in Poland, take the train across Poland to the Ukrainian border, and cross the border by train or on foot.

The train will take you to your destination in Ukraine, but you might be delayed up to eight hours because the security forces will check every passport and bomb-sniffing dogs will give all the baggage a once-over. If you want to walk, you cross the border on foot at Medyka, get scrutinized by the border police, and then rent a cab.

I started my journey on Monday, June 26. If I am lucky, I will arrive in Lviv on Saturday, July 1. The road to Ukraine for an American is a long one, a very long one indeed.

Why go? It is my second trip to this region so I can volunteer to help refugees displaced because of the war. I am no hero, but I still deeply believe volunteering is the right thing to do.

Many of my friends and colleagues that I know here — Brits, Poles, Ukrainians, and fellow Americans — have worked in the region for months. Some started not long after the Russian invasion in 2022. In contrast, I will be here a few weeks, trying to do what I can.

What I try to always remember is that for millions of Europeans, Ukraine is a neighbor. Just look at a map of Europe: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Moldova all share a border with Ukraine. For them, the largest war on the continent since World War II is next door. Many in those nations are convinced they could be next.

There are people like my cabbie yesterday. Karol, 43, picked me up from the airport in his shiny Mercedes. A former soldier in the Polish Army, he is like so many other Poles of his generation: entrepreneurial, skeptical of his government, fiercely proud of his nation, and well-aware of the Ukraine war.

“Karol is a good Polish name,” I said.

“I was named after Pope John Paul II,” Karol replied. (John Paul’s name before his pontificate was Karol Wojtyla. The late pope is a national hero in Poland.)

It is a 20-minute drive to my hotel, so there is time to talk. He asks what I will do in Poland.

I reply that I will eventually be in Ukraine, volunteering as a helper.

“I’ve driven many people who were on their way east,” Karol said. “In Poland, we became the largest volunteer organization in the world overnight after the Russians invaded. The people here were more involved than our government.”

“We are happy for the help,” he quipped.

“Do people in Poland still care about what is happening in Ukraine?” I asked.

“It depends on their age,” Karol said. “If they are young, like 30 or younger, they are very worried about the war. There have been too many times in Polish history when Poland was invaded and wiped out. They do not want to face a choice between survival or destruction. So, they believe in all the aid sent by the U.S., but they also believe in helping Ukrainians themselves.”

“If you are older, most people live in denial,” he continued. “They are more worried about what is happening at work. They say that NATO will protect us. Well, yes, NATO will help us, but if Poland is invaded, we will be doing our own fighting.”

“What would change the minds of the older Poles?” I ask.

“An invasion,” Karol said. “By then it is too late.”

When we arrive at my hotel, he shakes my hand when we part.

“You be careful,” he said. “You be very careful.”

I am moved by his concern, but his farewell is also a reminder that, although I am thoroughly convinced that I will stay safe, I am not on a vacation trip. As I travel, I travel closer to a war.

Before we arrived, we passed a road sign that indicates distances to points east. “It is only a three-hour drive to the border. That is not very far away from here,” Karol said.

From here, the road to Ukraine is a brief one, a very brief one. It is paved with history, outrage, selflessness, and fear, and, as I travel closer toward that beleaguered nation, it is humbling to consider that I will only briefly work near and among those who have stared war in the eyes for 16 months.

Read Paul Huard’s second dispatch by clicking here.

Paul R. Huard was a reporter who covered government and the military for Gannett newspapers. His freelance work included assignments in Estonia and Spain. During the summer of 2022, he volunteered as a humanitarian relief worker in Przemysl, Poland, where he assisted Ukrainian refugees. This summer, he will continue his work by volunteering in Ukraine.  He lives in Ashland. Email Huard at [email protected].

Picture of Bert Etling

Bert Etling

Bert Etling is the executive editor of Ashland.news. Email him at [email protected].

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