KHERSON, Ukraine — Friday, Feb. 24, marks one year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And the Tampa non-profit that has already rescued thousands of civilians is continuing its heroic efforts in the war-torn country.
Project DYNAMO has been conducting weekly rescue operations in Ukraine since a month before the war started, the organization said in a statement. Crews have rescued newborn twins, an American nuclear scientist and more than 6,000 civilians in more than 400 evacuations from both Ukraine and Russia.
This week, the organization's founder Bryan Stern returned to Ukraine to prepare for another series of humanitarian missions and large-scale rescues. The missions will be focused in areas of southern Ukraine that are expected to see an increase in violence in response to President Biden's recent visit, Project DYNAMO said in a release.
Project DYNAMO rescues
“Above all else, we are pro-freedom, pro-democracy, pro-sovereignty, and reject oppression and tyranny. We are angered and disgusted by the war-crimes, rape, genocide, and atrocities of this war including the displacement of millions of innocent people," Stern said in the statement.
"This is a war of choice by President Vladimir Putin and we’ll continue to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. Project DYNAMO will stand and defend freedom until hell freezes over and defend it on the ice if necessary.”
In a news release, Project DYNAMO highlighted some of the major rescue operations they've completed over the past year.
Just before Thanksgiving, the non-profit conducted its first mission inside Russia to rescue a set of twins born via surrogate. After moving in from Estonia, the team was able to safely get the newborns and fly them back to the U.S. to be united with their parents in Texas.
Project DYNAMO also rescued two American citizens said to be victims of Russian war crimes: Terry Gately and Kirillo Alexandrov.
"Both Gately and Alexandrov were illegally arrested, unlawfully detained, and denied release by Russian-aligned forces until their daring unilateral rescue by Project DYNAMO," the organization wrote.
Project DYNAMO is a veteran-led and donor-funded international rescue organization headquartered in Tampa. It was founded in 2021 during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, where rescue crews still have a presence.
You can learn more about their mission at ProjectDYNAMO.org.