I hope you had a pleasant and heartwarming Thanksgiving holiday.
As this Sunday missive is readied for publication, breaking news throws another blow in the continuing battle Ukraine has waged against Russia and Putin’s ruthless regime. See more about evolving particulars in our list for further reading.
As readers know, I am a benefactor of two organizations. One, NPLB Outdoors, helps American vets who are amputees. The other, Revived Soldiers Ukraine (RSU), helps seriously wounded Ukrainian soldiers, some of them amputees, with medical treatment in the United States. They are unable to get the lifesaving treatment or prosthetics they need in Ukraine.
Last August in Maine at Camp Kotok, we offered an unusual panel and some special guests, including a Ukrainian soldier and his wife. David Piasecky was and is being treated in Philadelphia at Wills Eye and at Penn Medicine for wounds which could not be treated in Ukraine. At Camp Kotok, we discussed how philanthropy is the only way such treatments and rehabilitation can occur. There is no system for soldier amputees that can help them in Ukraine. Russia, on the other hand, has targeted rehab hospitals and medical facilities.
In August, I asked those present who were so inclined to help this organization devoted to assistance. Some readers may remember that panel. The 50 people at Leen’s Lodge assuredly remember it. I thank those who made contributions to RSU. Christine and I continue to support both organizations focused on vets and amputees.
When we gathered at Leen’s that night for the panel, there were three critical cases in Ukraine, and RSU was without an ambulatory plane. Those soldiers would not be treated unless they got to US facilities. One of them died while we were at Leen’s Lodge. I do not know the outcome of the other two cases.
In October, a plane with two critically wounded soldiers flew to Chicago and got them to treatment successfully. Since the plane could carry six, four other wounded soldiers were able to join in that trip. I met two of those four. They are amputees and are now in treatment and prosthetic device rehab in Orlando. Christine and I hosted a small dinner with them when they were in Sarasota for an RSU fundraising event. I do know that part of the money raised at our Maine gathering assisted.
Below is a photo with Iryna and me and the two Ukrainian soldiers in amputee rehab. Below the photo is a flyer from RSU which tells the story about the plane to Chicago on which these two men were transported along with the two critical care soldiers who got to Chicago in time to obtain treatment for their wounds.
Iryna Discipio-Vashchuk, CEO of Revived Soldiers Ukraine, has been devoting her energy for the last ten years to helping Ukrainian rank-and-file citizen soldier vets who are amputees or who have life-threatening injuries and cannot obtain full treatment in Ukraine. Note that Russia has specifically targeted hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation facilities. Russia targets ambulances with drones.
The Ukrainian soldiers I have met and spoken with are reflective of a citizen army. They are not politicians or professional soldiers. That said, they have become more battle hardened, and they seem determined to protect their country from Russian invaders and from miscreant behavior within. What else would anyone expect, given a Putin-led “special military operation” army that rapes and then murders women, kidnaps children, and relocates them for “brainwashing” (my word) or “reeducation” (the Russian word).
We have seen more children and teens kidnapped and relocated in this war than we have seen abducted before in any conflict in history. Tens of thousands as young as five and six and ranging into their teens are victims. Many are being “retrained and Russified” and then taught military tactics so they can be redeployed to fight against their own families and communities in Ukraine. Personal interviews with Ukrainian citizens and soldiers, reports from the Institute for the Study of War, and the documentary films After the Rain and 20 days in Mariupol all confirm this. There are numerous other sources for anyone who wishes to dig deeper into the ruthless behavior of Russians in this war.
Thank you again for all who helped in August. We continue to fundraise and support this American charity (501c3) whose purpose is specifically to help Ukrainian critically wounded soldiers and amputees who are best treated in the US where Americans are supporting them. And we continue to support NPLB Outdoors, the American vet organization that directs its programming to amputee vets.
Here’s the October 20 report emailed from RSU:
Life-Saving Mission: Ukrainian Heroes Evacuated to the U.S. for Critical Care
Revived Soldiers Ukraine has successfully carried out its first large-scale and most complex medical evacuation of six severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers to the United States aboard a private medical aircraft — Bombardier Global 6000!
Urgent Call for Help
In [October] 2025, doctors at the Lviv Military Hospital reached out to Irina Vashchuk Discipio, President of Revived Soldiers Ukraine, requesting urgent assistance for two soldiers — Dmytro Solovyov and Volodymyr Shkul, both suffering from complex abdominal injuries.
After a careful medical review, Dr. Yevhen Pavelko, Medical Director of Revived Soldiers Ukraine, coordinated with UIC Hospital, University of Illinois Chicago, to admit these critically injured servicemen. Thanks to the swift response from UIC’s leadership and medical team, both patients received immediate care.
Four additional soldiers also traveled to the U.S. for medical and prosthetic treatment:
- Maksym Korzh — 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade (Air Assault Forces)
- Serhii Serhiienko — 77th Separate Air Assault Battalion
- Illia Haiduk — 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade
- Oleksii Kondratenko — 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade
A Complex Operation
Preparation: Over a month of detailed planning
Flight Cost: $151,000 — fully covered by Revived Soldiers Ukraine and our generous donors, including:
- Polsky Foundation & Tanya Polsky
- Brother’s Brother Foundation & Ozzy Samad and Svetlana Reinhardt
- Operation Mordechai Foundation & Melanie Kelfer
- A private benefactor covering nearly half the aircraft cost
- RSU direct contribution: $30,000
Due to the soldiers’ critical conditions, no commercial airline could transport them, making this a unique and highly complex mission. The Ministry of Health of Ukraine provided a medical evacuation bus and military medics, while Lt. Col. Vitalii Haniuk, anesthesiologist, accompanied the soldiers on board with the RSU team.
Arrival in Chicago
Upon landing, the heroes were immediately transported to UIC Hospital via ambulances provided by LiveLineAmb, where American doctors began urgent medical treatment and rehabilitation.
Our Gratitude
We thank everyone who made this operation possible:
- Coordination Center for Medical Evacuation, Ministry of Health of Ukraine
- International Department of the Medical Forces Command, Armed Forces of Ukraine
- U.S. Embassy in Ukraine
- UIC Hospital, Chicago
Special thanks to our donors and partner foundations:
- Polsky Foundation & Tanya Polsky
- Brother’s Brother Foundation & Ozzy Samad and Svetlana Reinhardt
- Operation Mordechai Foundation & Melanie Kelfer
This mission is a new milestone in international medical cooperation, proving once again that the life of every Ukrainian defender is priceless. We will do everything possible to save it.
Any reader who is so inclined is invited to join me in helping this charity. You can help even by sharing the story of our efforts.
For more information about Revived Soldiers Ukraine, see https://www.rsukraine.org.
RSU offers a variety of ways to donate at https://www.rsukraine.org/ways-to-help.
Further Reading
By way of introducing the reading list that follows, I would like to offer one reader’s viewpoint. Leonard wrote:
David, I know this is a complicated topic, but what should the US do about Ukraine’s invasion from Russia and going forward to keep Putin in check from doing this again? So far, the appeasement, sanctions, etc. don’t seem to deter him, and the Ukraine people seem to have no end to their suffering from Russia’s aggression. Should we do more, give them more offensive firepower to reach inside Russia, use the Russian assets that have been seized to rebuild the country, provide war reparations and so forth? Putin keeps threatening the use of nuclear weapons, but if that occurred, the West would retaliate and Russia would, IMO, cease to exist. If one looks back at history, Stalin wanted to do this to the West in the early 50s, his generals realized the consequences and then suddenly he died, like so many other Russian dissidents, likely poisoned… your thoughts?
Readers, I pass Leonard’s questions on to you. Readings listed below offer more food for thought. News of the war and any prospects for peace continues to evolve.
Recent News and Analysis
Last week brought news of the fiasco of Putin’s playing the US and Trump like a violin, resulting in a “peace plan” that aligned entirely with Russia’s interests.
“Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump” | Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/witkoff-advised-russia-on-how-to-pitch-ukraine-plan-to-trump
“Is a Ukraine Peace Deal Finally in Sight?” | Carnegie Politika, https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/11/russia-us-talk-leaks
A backlash and some scrambling ensued.
“McConnell warns Trump that ‘appeasing’ Russia won’t bring peace” | The Hill, https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5620035-mitch-mcconnell-russia-ukraine
“House Republicans Slam Witkoff Over Handling of Russia-Ukraine Talks” [subscription required] | Foreign Policy, https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/11/26/republicans-criticize-witkoff-russia-ukraine-talks-leaked-call-trump/
“November 23, 2025” | Letters from an American, https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/november-23-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
Bob Brusca posted an excellent take on LinkedIn:
“Trump and Putin: The Art of the Deal meets the brick wall of demands…Result? Push Grandma down the stairs” | Robert Brusca at LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trump-putin-art-deal-meets-brick-wall-demandsresult-push-brusca-sitve/
State of the War (November 25)
“Ukraine in maps: Tracking the war with Russia” | BBC, https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ukraine-maps-tracking-war-russia-173311921.html
“Seizing The Initiative Against Russia: Putting The United States In Control” ISW (November 16), https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/seizing-the-initiative-against-russia-putting-the-united-states-in-control-2/
“Russian Occupation Update, November 26, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-26-2025
“Russian Occupation Update, November 20, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-20-2025/
“Russian Occupation Update, November 13, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-november-13-2025/?_thumbnail_id=85756
“Russian Occupation Update, October 23, 2025” | ISW, https://understandingwar.org/research/russia-ukraine/russian-occupation-update-october-23-2025/
Ukraine’s Challenges
“Zelensky’s Top Aide Resigns as Corruption Probe Deepens” | Wall Street Journal, https://www.wsj.com/world/pressure-mounts-on-zelensky-over-right-hand-man-7682527b?st=JFUF5n&reflink=article_email_share
“IMF holds new talks with Kyiv as government grapples with graft scandal” | Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/imf-holds-new-talks-with-kyiv-government-grapples-with-graft-scandal-2025-11-17/
“‘We won’t win this war without women’” | Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/ukraine-women-combat-drone-unit/
“Countering the Myths of Western Analysts on Ukraine” | Sonar21, https://sonar21.com/countering-the-myths-of-western-analysts-on-ukraine/
Kotok Note: When this piece was written, the writer claimed that Pokrovsk was in Russian hands. That was a false claim then and reflected Russian propaganda efforts. By the time you read this, it may have fallen at great cost to Russian forces, or not. Wars of attrition driven by usage of drones (constantly evolving as a weapon) are not clear to a distant observer. I have discussed this personally with Ukrainian soldiers who were in drone operations against the Russians.
Meanwhile in Russia
“Russians Are Starting to Feel Real Economic Pain From Putin’s War” | Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-26/russia-s-economy-under-growing-strain-as-putin-s-ukraine-war-continues
“Russian oil companies are to be seized and nationalized in Europe” | RFU News – Reporting from Ukraine, https://youtu.be/oepL7nkVO3c?si=EAe-YfQ0nEuw5ZBv
“Russia’s System Is Beginning to Eat Its Own” | Carnegie Politika, https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/10/russia-elites-hunt?lang=en
“The Kremlin Has Weaponized Western Financial Checks to Punish Russian Dissidents” | Carnegie Politika, https://carnegieendowment.org/russia-eurasia/politika/2025/11/russia-eu-banking-exploits?lang=en
“This Leaked Diplomatic Cable From 2008 Foreshadowed Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine,” Business Insider (2014), https://www.businessinsider.com/wikileaks-russia-cable-2014-5
