A San Diego resident is in Moldovia near the southern border of Ukraine, willing to go to Odesa for his daughter and other family members if they are unable to leave the country on their own due to Russian war attacks.
Olex Shumishyn, a resident of the College Area in San Diego, told KGTV that if his relatives cannot reach the border with Moldova, he will enter Ukraine in search of his relatives at the port of Odesa.
In a GoFundMe account to finance his trip and get assistance to Ukraine, Olex explained:
"My name is Alex. Many of you know me personally. Those who don't, I'm Ukrainian, and I live in San Diego, but most of my family, including my daughter, lives in Ukraine. As well as many friends and acquaintances and their relatives."
"I will personally travel to Romania by air and then to Moldova by land this week. I will try to evacuate my family: my 9-year-old daughter, her mother, her brother, my two grandmothers, my sister-in-law, her two young children (6 months and three years), and my mother-in-law."
Shumishyn, a US citizen, grew up in Odessa. His Facebook account says that he studied at the Odessa National University of Economics.
The owner of a company in Escondido, Shumishyn told the television station that the idea is that his daughter and his ex-wife remain in Odessa. Still, if the fighting reaches that area and both cannot leave the country, he will go in to pick them up.
As a US citizen and Ukrainian by birth, Olex Shumishyn has no restrictions for entering Ukraine.
Shumishyn brought along 200 plate carriers, the cloth part of a bulletproof vest, and 75 field medical kits, which he and other Ukrainians bought to donate to Ukrainian fighters.
The businessman said he was surprised when British Airways waived $2,600 on baggage because it was a camp supporting Ukrainian fighters.
