Concerns had been raised that some in Ashland’s Ukrainian Sister City sympathize with invading Russian forces
By Morgan Rothborne, Ashland.news
Leaders of the Ashland-based nonprofit Ashland-Sviatohirsk Sister City Aid Project (ASAP) say they’ve taken steps to make sure donations of money and materials sent from Ashland to Sviatohirsk end up in the right hands.
Ashland photographer Chris Briscoe, who has now made four trips to Ukraine, raised concerns after a meeting with members of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Briscoe said he was convinced funds sent to Ashland’s sister city Sviatahirsk were going not to civilian aid but to the Russian intelligence service.
In a letter sent last fall from Briscoe to members of the board of the Ashland Sviatohirs’k Aid Project, Briscoe detailed his concerns.
“I’m writing to you from Kyiv, where I am on my third visit to the capital of Ukraine. Yesterday, through a series of lucky connections, I had a nearly three-hour meeting with two high-ranking officials from the Ukrainian Defense Department,” Briscoe wrote.
“When I mentioned that ASAP raised $40,000 to purchase a dump truck for the mayor of Sviatohirsk, the officials laughed and said, ‘I can guarantee you that most of that money went into the pockets of the KGB.’ … The officials spoke at length about how the Russian Orthodox Church has been used as a tool by the KGB (now FSB) to infiltrate and spy on Ukrainians. They made it clear that the monastery in Sviatohirsk, in particular, wields significant control over the village and the entire region.”
At the time, last September, Briscoe said board members dismissed his concerns. Briscoe said he was not at liberty to reveal the name of his source, other than to call him “Colonel Vlad.” Reached by text Monday, March 3, after his letter was sent to Ashland.news again from an additional source, Briscoe said he retains his concerns.
ASAP Board Secretary and Treasurer Louise Paré stated the organization never had as much money as $40,000, but spent around $25,000 on a dump truck last year because the mayor of Sviatohirsk stated that was what the town needed. After the Russian occupying forces were repelled, war-related debris compounded with growing piles of normal urban accumulation to create a public health hazard.
“It was bad for the health of human beings — rodents, garbage,” she said.
The mayor chose the model of truck that would serve his city, the ASAP committee had a decal with the Ashland “A” made for it, then moved the money for its purchase through a third-party non-government organization (NGO) in Ukraine.
Paré serves not only on the board of ASAP but also volunteers with Uniting for Ukraine, is half Ukrainian, and spent time in 1997 working on research surrounding contemporary feminism and women’s spirituality in Ukraine. She said she was proud to do her part to assist Ukranians, even as a small group in small ways. It takes dedicated small groups to make real change, she said.
ASAP is made up of some of Ashland’s best without question, Briscoe said. In typical Ashland fashion, these are conscientious people who feel called to step into action for the love of humanity.
“When the Russian invasion started, they stepped up to help,” Briscoe said, “but sadly they didn’t do their homework.”
By bribing the drivers of a supply van with a promise to buy petrol, Briscoe said he was able to get to the far eastern area of Ukraine in 2022 — so long as he left his press credentials in the hotel, wore a helmet and vest, and identified himself as just a volunteer.
Ashland’s sister city is dominated by the presence of the Lavra Monastery. He was told it was chosen as a sister city to Ashland for the beauty of this medieval structure.
Paré said fellow ASAP board member Ben Stott also traveled to the area early on in the conflict and noticed similarities to Ashland — beautiful forests and mountains frame the little town previously close to 5,000 people, now maybe as few as 650. It once experienced a high swell of visitors in the tourist season, attracted by hot springs and the monastery.
When the supply van in which he was riding drove into the high-walled monastery compound, Briscoe says he remembered it as “eerie.” Priests and guards gave the van and its occupants suspicious looks while locals in shell shock drifted in and drew close, hoping for supplies.
“The more Ukranians I talked to, I said, ‘Tell me about the Russian Orthodox church,’ and every single one, they say ‘Oh, that’s KGB,’ and then they tell me why. … This guy told me the other day, ‘Moscow doesn’t believe in God. But they do know, if they want to control their people they just have to control the church.’”
Leaving the compound, smoke was visible nearby, and it was explained this was a children’s hospital recently hit by a missile and still smoldering, Briscoe said. “They’re in the crossfire. I’m not saying they did not need help, they do need help. The problem and the challenge is, how do you get money to them that’s going to help them, but not go to the KGB?”
When he questioned the board, he was told — and “I believe them,” he said — that the purchase of the dump truck was verified by an organization of which an ASAP board member is a member.
Ukrainians are deeply honest, but it is not a rich country, “everybody works, everyone is an entrepreneur,” Briscoe said.
“You know when you get in a fender bender and the insurance will just write you a check and say it’s totaled? There’s junkyards all over America with these ‘totaled’ cars, they go online, find one, put it on a boat, bring it in through Latvia and get it fixed up like brand new and charge a fee of like 500 bucks, you can get a Tesla, whatever you want,” Briscoe said.
The purchase of a dump truck for $40,000 in a country with this particular practice seems improbable, he said.
Board President Jim Nagel said ASAP never had as much as $40,000. He remembered the purchase of the truck to have been around $25,000 and believes that to have been the high-water mark of the organization’s funds.
Records from the Internal Revenue Service show ASAP as an official 501(c)(3), Ashland-based nonprofit. Records for 2023 and 2024 state total money raised did not exceed $50,000 each year, meaning they did not have to file detailed reports. The principal officer is listed as James Nagel while Pare and James Sheldon are listed on the state paperwork alongside Nagel.
Using the NGO Ukraine Aid International as a financial middleman is a necessity because ties to the Russian government and its intelligence services are an acknowledged problem in the area, Nagel said. The NGO warned ASAP of this issue, which is why all funds — from the purchase of the truck to a recent purchase of chainsaws to simultaneously lower fire risk and produce fuel for heat — all go through the NGO.
“No money goes directly to Sviatohirsk. … This NGO has been operating in Ukraine for years, they actually won an award. We send the money to them, they do the purchasing and deliver the truck, the chainsaws to Sviatohirsk,” he said.
The response to ASAP’s work in Ashland has been overwhelmingly positive, Nagel said. The most recent fundraiser began with concerns attendance would be too low to fill the venue. Instead, board members soon worried they may have to turn people away. But Nagel also remembered a recent related question.
“Someone asked me the other day, ‘Can you confirm there’s no KGB agents operating in Sviatohirsk?’ I said ‘I can’t confirm there aren’t any KGB agents operating in Ashland.’”
Paré said Ukranians drove out the Russian operatives in the monastery when the town was retaken from Russian control. When those who live in the little town are asked about the monastery, they say, “It is ours.”
The contention over Ashland’s small contribution comes amid national headlines surrounding the war in Ukraine and potential changes in United State’s involvement. After a widely reported spat in the Oval Office last Friday, President Donald Trump announced a halt to all military aid to Ukraine late Monday evening.
Briscoe said he was told he could not go back to the area of Ashland’s sister city as defense officials consider it too dangerous. If he were to disobey he could be expelled from the country which would “break his heart.” It’s hard to come home now, he said.
“The hardest part of all my trips here is going home. … I was in Noble Coffee, and I had my book under my arm and the barista says, ‘Oh, is that thing still going on?’”
Email Ashland.news reporter Morgan Rothborne at [email protected].
Related stories:
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Ukrainian refugee in Ashland: ‘Without the help of the United States, Ukraine will not survive’ (March 5, 2025)
Ashland photographer Christopher Briscoe to share stories and images of war-ravaged Ukraine (March 4, 2025)
Hundreds hear tips on how to respond to changing immigration policy (Feb. 26, 2025)
Review: ‘Unbreakable Spirit’ tells of Ukraine’s anguish with soaring music (Nov. 1, 2024)
Ukraine: A cultural celebration (Oct. 20, 2024)
Concert series at SOU to showcase musicians from embattled nations (Aug. 31, 2024)
Two years in, no end in sight: An Ashland resident’s report from Ukraine (Feb. 23, 2024)
Concert fundraiser puts Ashland’s Ukrainian Sister City center stage (Dec. 11, 2023)
Fundraiser for Sviatohirsk, Ukraine, Ashland’s Sister City (Nov. 29, 2023)
Telling Ashland’s Ukrainian sister city’s story — and doing something about it (Aug. 13, 2023)
