Words: Zackary Peck
When the Russians invaded the eastern front of Ukraine, in 2022, the devastating reality was an attack on sovereignty. It was at this stage of the conflict that three American civilians arrived in Ukraine to assist in whatever capacity they could. What they had in common were principles, strong wills and beating hearts. Though it may feel like the world has moved on and the news cycle has calmed, the grave reality of life in Ukraine has deteriorated even more. As Putin falls to desperate measures, the Ukrainians, and those who fight alongside them, continue to prove their valour.
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In May, 2022, a young American approached his father to warn of his imminent departure. Conor Kennedy, the 29-year-old activist, Georgetown Law graduate and grandson of Robert F Kennedy, had volunteered to fight alongside the Ukrainian soldiers, joining his family’s ranks as a Kennedy who would put his life on the line for democracy. He revealed his objective only to his girlfriend, so that in the event of a fatality, she could shed light on his whereabouts. His grandfather, representing America’s great hope for leadership, was slain in the run up to a presidential election. In August, 2023, Conor Kennedy’s father, Bobby Kennedy Jr, admitted, “I commonly get death threats”. Whether or not it was the fortitude of his forefathers that inspired him to enlist, Conor Kennedy found his way to the northeastern front. Not wanting special treatment, he revealed his identity to only one other person on the front lines. Beyond that, his name would have made him and his fellow freedom fighters a high-value target for the Russians. Though his time in Ukraine was limited to four months, it was enough for him to find out what he was made of.
Conor Kennedy spent four months in Ukraine, in 2022. Image: Isadora Kosofsky
When he was 10, Noah Sims made a pact with god that he would spend his life “serving the people”. All he asked in return was that god made him taller than his brother at 6’5”, and taller than Michael Jordan at 6’6”. He told me that even if god hadn’t held up that end of the deal, he would still dedicate his life to making the world a better place. At 6’7”, this Georgia native has a towering stature and a fittingly gigantic personality. Since completing culinary school, he’s made a career of bringing nurturing and flavourful food to those who need it. Whether in war zones, developing countries, orphanages, hospitals, or towns hit by hurricanes, Sims says, “I lead with my heart and it’s never done me wrong... I’m a realist and you should be really happy about it. I’m full of gratitude for everything that I’ve done. The good, the bad, and the ugly.” He has spent the majority of the past two years in Ukraine, giving every ounce of his energy to refugees. An unstoppable force for good, he strives to inspire hope and believes he’s in “demi-god mode” when he’s helping people.
Ukrainian military ID. While on the front lines, Conor Kennedy was promoted to machine gunner. Image: Isadora Kosofsky
Trent Tosky had dreamed of a life in the United States military since childhood. A benign tumour found in his knee when he was 19 saw him declared unfit for active service. Four years later, Tosky was given another chance to fulfil his dream, by applying for the Ukrainian International Legion. He applied on 27 February, 2022, the first day the legion was announced. Unfortunately, he was informed that they simply did not have enough supplies to accommodate all of the volunteers. He saw this as just another complication to overcome, and, three months later, navigated his way to the Polish border, inching closer to the front lines. While stationed in Przemyśl, Poland, at the World Central Kitchen, Tosky faced the aftermath of destruction on a daily basis. Each realisation of the reality in Ukraine furthered his desire to cross the border. Within six weeks, he’d travelled to Lutsk through Believe in Ukraine, a logistics organisation bringing food, medical supplies and munitions to the front lines.
Kennedy enlisted the day after hearing about Ukraine’s International Legion. Image: Isadora Kosofsky
Reaction time
Within 24 hours of hearing about the Ukrainian International Legion, Kennedy was at the Embassy, eagerly hoping to volunteer. Unfortunately, the legion was exclusively looking for volunteers with prior military experience, of which he had none. Unsure whether or not they would even allow him in, Kennedy travelled to Poland to find his way to the front lines. Within two days, he had been scouted by a legionnaire and immediately began his formal training. Within a matter of hours, he went from carrying heavy boxes to learning how to take apart an AK-47. Even for veterans, training in the legion normally takes several months. It was luck that saw Kennedy arrive at the front lines inside three weeks of leaving the US.
Fifteen seconds. The food-slingin’ cowboy Sims took 15 seconds to make the decision to hop on a plane to eastern Europe. When he saw the news on TV, he got down on his knees and prayed for guidance. Was he needed over there? God responded, “Yeah, you dumbass, of course. That’s why you’re asking me this question.” Within seven days, he and his father were on a flight to Rzeszów, Poland, one of the central hubs for food distribution. On day one, father and son were washing dishes and taking out the rubbish. By day four, Sims had been placed in charge of the cold service and streamlined the prep stations. He ramped up the output from 350 sandwiches an hour to 3,500 sandwiches an hour. Over the following months, Sims set up a fleet of food trucks and was cleared to drive into Ukraine, serving his first meal of roasted, slow-cooked beef and borscht on Christmas Day, 2022.
Noah Sims cooks for the people of Tarasivka, Ukraine, in January, 2023
Sims and his father, Richard, hand out hot meals and teddy bears
Sims prepares the beetroot for his delicious borscht recipe
During his stint at the World Central Kitchen, in Poland, Tosky was serving food to two men affiliated with Believe in Ukraine. They revealed that one of the men on their team had perished and they were looking for someone to take his place. By the time Tosky had finished serving them, he’d secured his spot on the team. When questioned about whether or not he was fully aware of the intensity he was going to face, he described a drawing that a little girl had given him days before. The image was of a tank blowing up her home. He understood the grave reality of his situation and the situation of so many Ukrainians. And that was his motivation.
Experience
Kennedy claims that the skillset he brought to the table was his ability to lift heavy things and a willingness to die. He is also proficient in becoming proficient. He had enough self-awareness to know he would be an asset and would not have committed himself to the legion if there was any question of him being a liability. And, above all else, his selflessness is a much greater asset than his physical strength. When I initially approached him to discuss writing about his experience, this story was only meant to be about him. His condition for speaking to me was that I profiled others who had served in Ukraine, as it wasn’t fair for him to get the spotlight alone. It was a collaborative effort and he wanted to ensure that this story reflected that.
After completing two years of culinary school within one academic year, Sims sought to feed those who most desperately need it. His talents and determination brought him first to an orphanage surrounded by cobra fields, in Gummidipoondi, India. He then embarked on a humanitarian mission to Haiti, setting up food security by establishing a safe route from port to destination. After Hurricane Ian hit Fort Myers in Florida, he worked next to an oven for over a month with temperatures reaching a high of 83°C, a record he prides himself on. On the other end of the spectrum, he’s recorded a low of -38°C. In between all of the above locations, he volunteered at soup kitchens, hospitals, and treatment centres throughout the US so consistently that he earned a reputation for his endless contributions. When he flew to eastern Europe, he brought his culinary skills and an unshakeable ability to work in the harshest conditions. If anything, the conditions are what fuelled him.
Civilian housing damaged by artillery fragments in Mykolaiv, Ukraine
Trent Tosky packing food, clothing and medicine, in a logistics hub, for civilians
In 2014, when Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula and then annexed it, Toksy had the forethought to begin learning Russian. He expected this invasion long ago, and wanted every advantage in order to help protect the sovereignty of Ukraine. Tosky, if anything, is extremely analytical and forward-thinking. Expecting to spend his life in the military, he educated himself about how to best help in geopolitical situations. While his friends were watching American football, he studied the causes and ramifications of wars. Having returned from Ukraine due to injury, he enrolled in graduate school, studying International Relations and Global Studies with a concentration in conflict resolution. His goal remains unchanged. He wants to have every advantage to help those in need.
Fear
During his training in the legion, Kennedy was consistently told that he was going to die. They repeatedly asked him if he was ready for that. As it was never a rhetorical question, he had to respond with a verbal “yes” every time. As the departure date loomed, his team was reminded that they “were going to go die in a few days”. Then, “we’re going to go die tonight... We’re going to go die in an hour”. And finally, “we’re going to go die”. Only then did his team depart for war. When I asked him to reflect on whether or not he was scared, he said, “The reality of it is unimaginably horrible for a lot of people... The stuff that really stuck with me was hearing from civilians who had been displaced and suffered huge losses. The reality of it for them was so much more than I experienced.” Fear never played into his decisions.
“It’s the thing in my life I’m most proud of. I’m so lucky for what I had and what I did”
Sims was chopping onions while bombs were going off overhead. He was simmering tomatoes while air sirens were blasting. When the power went out for 15 days, he walked 53 floors up to his accommodation where he found icicles hanging on the ceiling. These conditions can be fatal and, yet, the only thing he complained about was being stuck in a “George Michael purgatory” in the run up to Christmas. Even that wasn’t a real complaint. When I asked him if he sensed any lingering dangers from his service, he excitedly boasted, “I hope to god that Russia has a target on me. That’s only fair because I have a target on them.”
Russian cyber-security experts had been tracking Tosky’s movements across the globe. At first, they revealed that they knew his location and ordered him to leave. Save the occasional antagonisation, Tosky would ignore them and carry on with his efforts. As time went on, they would email him to ask if he enjoyed the air strike in a village he’d been stationed out of earlier that day. They detailed his travel log for months. They infiltrated his Facebook page, replacing his profile photo with the Islamic state flag and uploading extensive amounts of child pornography. They went so far as to write poetry fantasising about murdering his mother and sister, naming them in the process. While the majority of us would have been on the first flight back to the West, changed our locks, and sought witness protection, Tosky recounted this story to me with amusement. According to him, the poetry, dark as it may have been, was very well written. He said it was like getting threatened by Dostoyevsky.
Reality
Kennedy was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice. When his team of legionnaires departed for the front lines, his first position was as a drone operator. While it would be understandable to assume that this would be a position of safety, the reality is far more dangerous. In many cases, Russians have been able to electronically trace the location of the pilot behind enemy lines using an AeroScope. Designed to deliver information about flight status, air paths and more, over an area of 50sq km, they are traditionally used to protect airports, prisons, stadia, nuclear plants and other government infrastructures in real time. But using this technology, the Russians could locate the pilot, drop a bomb and move on. Fortunately, Kennedy survived several weeks and was promoted to machine gunner, a position he maintained for the remainder of his rotation.
A friend of Kennedy’s watches artillery fire before going in
Kennedy on the back of a truck, on the way to the front line in Ukraine
Although his promotion meant that he was no longer able to be electronically traced in the same way, he felt increasingly vulnerable, particularly in the border towns. But as the dangers grew, so did his respect for those he fought with and considered brothers: “They were the bravest, coolest guys I’d ever met.” Although the risk is unimaginable, “it’s the thing in my life I’m most proud of. I’m so lucky for what I had and what I did”.
Bucha was named as one of the most dangerous locations in Ukraine by the Kyiv Oblast State Administration. Compared to Kyiv, it was “literally hell on earth... [Kyiv] only had to deal with missile strikes and drone attacks... There were torture chambers for children in Bucha.” That is the sole reason Sims settled on Bucha, over anywhere else in Ukraine, to set up his first food truck. Even in that hellish environment, he was unwilling to compromise on flavour. Utilising what the local area had to offer, his first meals largely consisted of borscht and slow-cooked beef. It made him so popular in the surrounding areas that local television started referring to him as “the borscht machine”. As his popularity grew, so did his menu. Within weeks, Sims had started serving Neapolitan pizzas using ovens sent by Corey Watson, an American pizza chef and founder of Pizza for Ukraine. Sims’s determination to serve the most flavourful meals came from the same part of his heart that helped him decide on Bucha. He’s always going to do his best for those who need him the most. It’s precisely that mentality that makes his choices easy.
Ukranian flag signed by Kennedy’s team mates
At times, his attitude when discussing some of the more violent situations he found himself in almost seemed cavalier: “I like problems. We can resolve problems. Dilemmas can get a little hairy, but problems I like.”
Driving an old donated pick-up truck that he painted olive green, Tosky transported rations, ammunition and medical kit directly to the front lines. He typically chose his route based on where he heard the least amount of gunfire. Though largely stationed at the central donation hub in Lutsk, he frequently made trips to conflict areas with just a paint job for protection. The fact that the Russians valued one humanitarian life at five of their own not only neutralised the pseudo-camouflage, but also painted a figurative target on his back. Driving through Ukraine was like driving through “the fourth level of Dante’s Inferno”. He frequently made stops in towns and cities where the life expectancy of a soldier was seven days. Even if he had been a soldier, the military vehicles in Ukraine mostly consisted of civilian vehicles repainted by volunteers. Ukraine is “being drip-fed equipment it desperately needed yesterday to complete a Herculean task”. With every possible disadvantage, Tosky still recalled how impressive the donation hub was. When children from Arkansas sent cards to soldiers, the cards made it. When first-aid kits were donated, they made it. When toys and crayons were donated to the refugee children, Tosky painted an old pick-up truck and delivered.
Reflecting on his time in Ukraine, Kennedy says, “I saw a lot and felt a lot”. Image: Isadora Kosofsky
These three men, like the majority of us, are civilians. The character traits they have in common are all within our grasp. Rather than get held up in the decision-making process, they acted. They found reasons why they could be of service instead of reasons why they couldn’t.
While Kennedy, Sims and Tosky share a handful of incredibly powerful experiences, there is one action they each took that is more telling than all the rest. They each bought a one-way ticket.
This feature was taken from our Spring 2024 issue. Read more about it here.
Want more features? Read our interview with Anderson .Paak…
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