EASTERN UKRAINE, WXYZ — Last spring, U.S. Air Force Veteran Dan Rebar got on a plane to Poland. He carried with him medical supplies packed by local volunteers in Hamtramck. Once in Poland, he connected with Ukrainians who brought him over the border.
He had one goal - to volunteer and defend what he saw as democratic values all should uphold; values at risk in Ukraine after Putin's invasion started in February of 2022.
Rebar planned on volunteering to fight; he was answering a call Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had put out to allies around the world: he was seeking foreign veterans willing to help defend Ukraine. Since Zelenskyy's call went out, thousands of foreign veterans volunteered to fight. It's unclear exactly how many have volunteered since the invasion started, but that number is now estimated to be in the low thousands.
Once over the border, Dan began working as a paramedic; healing wounds, transporting critical patients, and helping to triage in the field.
His trip was supposed to last a few weeks, maybe a month. He'd even planned for 60 days if needed.
Fast forward more than a year and Dan has no plans to leave.
"What changed was getting to know the people here," Dan told Action News's Jenn Schanz.
They've been communicating regularly since he left, usually touching base on WhatsApp when Dan has decent service.
“What’s at stake and what the very brave and dedicated, courageous people here are fighting for," Dan said, is what's driving him to remain in Ukraine after more than a year.
When Dan first arrived, he was one of several foreign volunteers - mostly Westerners. But that number is getting smaller now, he said.
Dan has lost two close friends since he arrived, and several others that he and his paramedic team just couldn't get to in time.
"The worst of the assignments we get are to transport those who have not made the journey to us," he said. "And we’re afraid that with the coming counter-offensive, we’re going to be doing that portion of it a lot more as well," he said.
Dan and his hospitallers team call themselves "The Storm Chasers," and are often deployed just behind the front line for days or even weeks at a time. Many volunteers he said, work regular day jobs in Ukraine when they're not deployed.
Speaking to us from somewhere in the forest in eastern Ukraine, you could hear low rumblings of distant shelling in the background.
Dan seemed in good spirits and used to the noise.
"That sound that you hear is our everyday soundtrack," he said.
He rejects the idea that there's a stalemate, noting that the number of casualties he and his team face hasn't gone down.
"When there is an offensive and teams are moving and the lines are changing, we’re taking casualties," Dan said.
He is still optimistic Ukraine will prevail, but at what cost, is unclear.
For most metro Detroiters, the horrors of Putin's war still seem very far away; we see them through screens and in national news reports.
The images are sobering, but they're distant. We're feeling the pain at the gas pump less.
While the immediate impact of the war in Ukraine is not being felt as strongly by the average American, it's likely to be a huge talking point in the run-up to 2024, said associate professor Javed Ali with U of M's Ford School of Public Policy.
"President Biden has said that he will do everything he can while he continues to be president to support Ukraine and currently that has totaled over 100 billion dollars," Ali told Action News, noting that tab is expected to grow.
Action News asked Ali what has shifted on the ground since the early days of the invasion. 15 months in, he said Russia's immediate goals have not been realized.
"Whether that was to overthrow the Zelenskyy regime or occupy different parts of the country and install local puppet governments or deliver a total defeat to the Ukrainian military," he said, "it doesn't look like any of those things have occurred."
Ali said the fighting at this point is mostly concentrated in eastern and southern Ukraine, where infrastructure has been badly damaged.
"Both sides have lots tens of thousands of soldiers, dead or wounded," he said, stating the true figure is unknown for both Ukrainian and Russian causalities.
The fighting sparked a massive migration challenge in Europe, as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes.
"The war has definitely taken a different turn, and no one knows when this war will end either," Ali said.
An unknown future does not appear to be swaying Dan, who said he plans to remain in Ukraine until the country prevails.
Dan is in regular contact with metro Detroiters, who run United Support for Ukraine in Hamtramck; they send critical medical supplies like combat-ready medic packs, and high quality tourniquets, which he said continue to save lives.
