International Header

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

Last updated:
February 16, 2022
|  5 min read

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

YouTube video highlight

Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

Read more about the project

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

Thumbnail Slider Image
No items found.

‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

ORLANDO, Fla. — Shawn Sullivan sits at his dining table, flipping through the contents of a hard drive on his computer. His eyes, behind narrow glasses, dart back and forth as he categorizes the events of the last 16 days.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The wiry man’s house doesn’t stand out in his South Clermont neighborhood, but the story inside it does. Sullivan, jetlagged, stepped off a flight from Ukraine less than 24 hours before.

READ: Ukraine-Russia crisis: What to know about the fears of war

Now, a reporter was inside his house, asking about a country on the verge of invasion.

“Bomb shelters are being prepared in downtown Kyiv,” he said. “First time I’ve ever seen in 22 years.”

Technically, Ukraine has been at war since Russia and Russian-backed separatists began invading it in 2014, though the fighting has been contained to the easternmost parts of the nation. The missionary has been flying in and out every few weeks through it all, as he has done for more than 20 years.

Sullivan’s nonprofit, Mission 823, serves many of the people affected by battle. His team runs youth camps for children with PTSD. They hand out water filters to people stuck near the front lines. Two million Ukrainians have been displaced since fighting began, he said, including 700,000 children.

“If you veer off of the road, there are entire fields full of landlines, millions of landlines and their markers, little signs and wooden stakes,” he described. “If you pass those wooden stakes, you will not survive.”

An invasion is projected to kill tens of thousands and displace millions more. Sullivan said his departure was pre-planned. Unlike most Americans, who are leaving after the State Department warned them to get out.

For now, DeLand native Myroslav Boitchouk is staying. In his fifth out of six years of medical school in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in the western part of the country, he said daily live was moving a little more quickly than usual.

“You’re going to the store, you’re studying, you’re just going for a walk, and all of a sudden that it snaps into your mind again, you know, I need to check the news,” he said.

Continue reading the complete article where you can learn more about what Mission 823 does to support the people of Ukraine here

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

ORLANDO, Fla. — Shawn Sullivan sits at his dining table, flipping through the contents of a hard drive on his computer. His eyes, behind narrow glasses, dart back and forth as he categorizes the events of the last 16 days.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The wiry man’s house doesn’t stand out in his South Clermont neighborhood, but the story inside it does. Sullivan, jetlagged, stepped off a flight from Ukraine less than 24 hours before.

READ: Ukraine-Russia crisis: What to know about the fears of war

Now, a reporter was inside his house, asking about a country on the verge of invasion.

“Bomb shelters are being prepared in downtown Kyiv,” he said. “First time I’ve ever seen in 22 years.”

Technically, Ukraine has been at war since Russia and Russian-backed separatists began invading it in 2014, though the fighting has been contained to the easternmost parts of the nation. The missionary has been flying in and out every few weeks through it all, as he has done for more than 20 years.

Sullivan’s nonprofit, Mission 823, serves many of the people affected by battle. His team runs youth camps for children with PTSD. They hand out water filters to people stuck near the front lines. Two million Ukrainians have been displaced since fighting began, he said, including 700,000 children.

“If you veer off of the road, there are entire fields full of landlines, millions of landlines and their markers, little signs and wooden stakes,” he described. “If you pass those wooden stakes, you will not survive.”

An invasion is projected to kill tens of thousands and displace millions more. Sullivan said his departure was pre-planned. Unlike most Americans, who are leaving after the State Department warned them to get out.

For now, DeLand native Myroslav Boitchouk is staying. In his fifth out of six years of medical school in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in the western part of the country, he said daily live was moving a little more quickly than usual.

“You’re going to the store, you’re studying, you’re just going for a walk, and all of a sudden that it snaps into your mind again, you know, I need to check the news,” he said.

Continue reading the complete article where you can learn more about what Mission 823 does to support the people of Ukraine here

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Media Mentions from WFTV 9
WFTV 9
Breaking news, live video, traffic, weather and your guide to everything local for Orlando and Central Florida from WFTV.
Media Mentions

WFTV: ‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

‘Terrifying and exhausting:’ Central Floridians offer window into Ukraine preparing for war

ORLANDO, Fla. — Shawn Sullivan sits at his dining table, flipping through the contents of a hard drive on his computer. His eyes, behind narrow glasses, dart back and forth as he categorizes the events of the last 16 days.

>>> STREAM CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS LIVE <<<

The wiry man’s house doesn’t stand out in his South Clermont neighborhood, but the story inside it does. Sullivan, jetlagged, stepped off a flight from Ukraine less than 24 hours before.

READ: Ukraine-Russia crisis: What to know about the fears of war

Now, a reporter was inside his house, asking about a country on the verge of invasion.

“Bomb shelters are being prepared in downtown Kyiv,” he said. “First time I’ve ever seen in 22 years.”

Technically, Ukraine has been at war since Russia and Russian-backed separatists began invading it in 2014, though the fighting has been contained to the easternmost parts of the nation. The missionary has been flying in and out every few weeks through it all, as he has done for more than 20 years.

Sullivan’s nonprofit, Mission 823, serves many of the people affected by battle. His team runs youth camps for children with PTSD. They hand out water filters to people stuck near the front lines. Two million Ukrainians have been displaced since fighting began, he said, including 700,000 children.

“If you veer off of the road, there are entire fields full of landlines, millions of landlines and their markers, little signs and wooden stakes,” he described. “If you pass those wooden stakes, you will not survive.”

An invasion is projected to kill tens of thousands and displace millions more. Sullivan said his departure was pre-planned. Unlike most Americans, who are leaving after the State Department warned them to get out.

For now, DeLand native Myroslav Boitchouk is staying. In his fifth out of six years of medical school in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city in the western part of the country, he said daily live was moving a little more quickly than usual.

“You’re going to the store, you’re studying, you’re just going for a walk, and all of a sudden that it snaps into your mind again, you know, I need to check the news,” he said.

Continue reading the complete article where you can learn more about what Mission 823 does to support the people of Ukraine here

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Media Mentions from WFTV 9
WFTV 9
Breaking news, live video, traffic, weather and your guide to everything local for Orlando and Central Florida from WFTV.
Media Mentions
browse all articles
Here at Sawyer
February 3, 2026
6 Min
Treeline Review: PCT Southbound Gear List & Strategy 2026
Read More

Media Mentions

43.2% of hikers used the Sawyer Squeeze, the most common hollow membrane squeeze filter (and the most common water treatment overall).

Mac
Contributing Writer

Media Mentions

Randy Patton’s late father, Biff Patton, launched the water filter program in 2010.

Conner Beene
Writer

Media Mentions

The most significant being its positive impact on our health after using it, its capacity to reduce our expenses on water treatment and access to safe water, and the time it saves by eliminating the need for boiling or treating water.

Teburenga Geraldine Tabwebweiti
Communications and Engagement
<<  Previous Post
No previous post!
Check out our Directory
Next Post  >>
No next post!
Check out our Directory