KYIV, Ukraine – Following the U.S. Department of State’s security alert issued Tuesday confirming information that Russia is stepping up efforts to launch strikes against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure and government facilities in the coming days, Project DYNAMO, an American non-profit organization specializing in civilian evacuations from conflict zones, is urging Americans and others trapped in contested areas to leave immediately and if they can’t, to register for evacuation through their website.
Issued by the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, the security alert urges U.S. citizens to “depart Ukraine now using privately available ground transportation options.” With a flood of people fleeing for the border at the U.S.’s behest, some civilians may be left without evacuation options due to the high demand for legitimate and safe transportation services.
“If you’re in the occupied or contested areas or in southern or eastern Ukraine, go to our website and click ‘UKRAINE: Evacuation Request.’ We’ll come for you,” said Bryan Stern, co-founder of Project DYNAMO, who is currently forward deployed in Kyiv, coordinating dozens of current and upcoming rescue operations. “Project DYNAMO is in total agreement with the State Department announcement and our own intel indicating things are about to get really bad. We’ve already seen Russian forces target civilians indiscriminately in this conflict, Americans arrested and tortured without cause, and those attacks are about to drastically increase.”
On the one-year anniversary of Project DYNAMO’s inception and the sixth-month anniversary of the war in Ukraine, Project DYNAMO says they are honored to support Ukraine and be on the ground evacuating Americans and civilians from around the world during its 31st anniversary of independence, where the Ukrainian people are standing up against oppression and defending their freedom.
“The bravery shown by the men and women of Ukraine under the leadership of President Zelenskyy against a brutal regime in defiance of tyranny is inspiring, humbling, and scary all at the same time,” Stern said. “We have watched grandfathers on the front lines, young women raped and tortured, and children murdered. Despite this suffering, the Ukrainians fight and do not give up. Every day here is like 9/11 for thousands of innocent people.”
Six months into the conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine has left approximately 17.7 million people in serious need of humanitarian aid, according to the United Nations. The U.N. also warned that the crisis would only worsen as winter approaches amid increasingly high food and energy prices.
President Biden announced Wednesday that the U.S. would send a $3 billion security package to Ukraine, the U.S.’s largest to date. According to the Biden administration, the package will come through weapons contracts from the Ukraine Security Assistance (USAI) funds process rather than drawing from existing Defense Department inventory.
The U.S. security alert and commitment to arm Ukraine come just days after Russian authorities blamed Ukraine for organizing the killing of Daria Dugina, the daughter of a prominent Putin ally and Russian supporter of the invasion, a claim that raised fears of a further escalation in the six-month war.
Dugina, 29, was killed in a car bombing on Saturday in an affluent neighborhood outside Moscow. Ukraine has denied any involvement in the attack.
With the conflict growing ever more turbulent, Stern says Americans need to act quickly and not wait.
“When it comes to the increase of attacks, missile strikes, and bombardments, it’s not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘when,’” said Stern, who has rescued nearly 4,000 civilians from Ukraine so far. “This war is far from over. The Russians are not leaving except by force. If you wait too long, regular transportation services won’t be able to make it to you. Contact us if you’re in one of those contested or hard-to-reach places. Right now. The full might of the Russian Air Force is setting conditions and will kill everything they can find.”
Project DYNAMO arrived in Ukraine in mid-January — weeks before the war — and conducted the first rescue of Americans in Ukraine six months ago in the opening hour of the war.
Project DYNAMO has rescued Americans, the vulnerable, and innocent civilians from the most war-torn, contested, and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine and evacuated them safely to neighboring countries, including APOLLO-humanitarian convoys, GEMINI-newborn surrogate babies, AQUARIUS-pregnant surrogate mothers, ARIES-medical evacuations, ATLAS-special needs civilians, VOYAGER-Holocaust survivors, and ORION-special cases including the daring unilateral rescues of American citizens Robert Platt, John Spor, Terry Gateley, and Kirillo Alexandrov.
Concurrently, Project DYNAMO has been conducting rescue operations in Afghanistan since the U.S.’s controversial withdrawal one year ago this week. To date, Project DYNAMO has conducted over 100 rescue operations from Afghanistan, transporting American citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents – Green Card Holders, SIV holders, and vetted allies safely to the United States and neighboring countries, including SLINGSHOTS – charter or commercial air evacuations to the United States, and NOMADS – cross-border, land-based rescue operations to neighboring countries.
Anyone needing evacuation is urged to register at www.projectdynamo.org and register for the U.S. State Department’s STEP program.
Those interested in donating to or learning more about Project DYNAMO can do so by visiting www.projectdynamo.org
Members of the media interested in interviewing members of Project DYNAMO should contact Justin Clements at 812.621.0631 or justin.clements@judgepr.com.
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About Project Dynamo:
Derived from “Operation Dynamo,” the codename issued to the Dunkirk evacuation operation of World War II, Project Dynamo is a privately run, donor-funded evacuation operation being run by extraordinary civilians attempting to do the impossible — rescue Americans and their allies from hostile regions of the world.