Vindman on the ground in Ukraine: ‘I think that I can help’

Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman said on Twitter Tuesday that he had traveled to Ukraine to help the country in its war with Russia.

“I’m in Ukraine in a war zone because I think I can help,” wrote Vindman, who fled Soviet-era Ukraine when he was three years old with his family. 

He said he is spending his time “meeting with senior military and political leadership” so he can learn more about the war and inform the public and other leaders of how it might end.

“This war is the most important geopolitical event of the last 20 & maybe the next 20 years. It’s largely out of the consciousness of the U.S. public & that’s dangerous. Our politicians should know that we still care about what happens in Ukraine. I’m doing media to remind us,” Vindman said in the thread. 

Vindman served during the Trump administration as the director of European affairs on the National Security Council until February 2020. 

In 2019, he testified to Congress regarding a phone call former President Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In the call, Trump linked military aid for Ukraine to an investigation of then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. 

The testimony helped lead to Trump’s first impeachment and gave Vindman national recognition which he has used to target Republicans who he had said are too supportive of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“Ukraine needs help. I am trying to get the repair, sustainment, and training for western equipment moved into Ukraine. Having it in Poland and Romania is not good enough. This country is too big and it takes too long to move things. There are plenty of ways to mitigate risks,” Vindman concluded in his thread. 

Ukraine has received billions of dollars in aid from the U.S., including humanitarian and military support.