Jericho Skye has been gone for 107 days. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, escalating a yearlong war and causing Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, 26-year-old Army veteran and California native Skye left his home in Ojai and headed for the Polish border. The night before his departure, he said goodbye to friends and family, and left a town that has been praying for him since he left. Skye boarded a plane after packing a duffel bag with medical supplies, body armor, cold weather gear, bracelets that friends made, written letters from loved ones, and a teddy bear that he keeps in his pocket to feel close to the young son he’s leaving behind.

“I didn’t come here to die and I don’t plan on dying,” Skye says over the phone, while the sound of air raid sirens continues throughout the call. “I’ll stay as long as it takes for this war to end, and while I’m here I plan to do whatever it takes to protect the people of Ukraine.”

In the earliest days after Russia’s unprovoked attacks on Ukraine, President Biden warned Americans not to get involved in this conflict as there would be very little the government could do to protect citizens once they were on Ukrainian soil. 

While the world watched what, even months into this war, has felt like a fight between David and Goliath, Skye could not sit by and watch: “They were bombing hospitals, they were shelling schools, and that was only the beginning. Sitting on my couch and hoping someone else would do something was never an option for me.”

 Since the conflict began, a growing number of American soldiers have gone missing in Ukraine. On June 9, two American military veterans were captured and detained while fighting in the n ortheastern Kharkiv region. Russian officials have made it clear that all foreign soldiers will be treated as mercenaries and will not be protected by the Geneva Conventions. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hinted at the dire consequences captured soldiers would face for their involvement in this war. Aware of the many dangers, Skye still decided to join the 20,000 volunteers from all over the world who have entered Ukraine to help fight. “ People argued that I was joining a war without knowing all the facts, but it’s a fact that civilians are being killed, and it’s a fact that no one else is sending in troops,” Skye says, referring to multiple reports that NATO nations have refused direct combat and air defense that Ukraine is pleading for, with many leaders agreeing that to do so would trigger a third world war. “This is not a matter of nationality or a matter of politics,” Skye says. “It’s purely a matter of life. ” 

before Skye felt compelled to leave home and go fight, he owned and operated a construction and design company in Southern California, spending his days off hiking or at the beach with his dog, Lobo, and his family. After high school, Skye served as a military policeman in the 137th Military Police Detachment of the U.S. Army. Although he entered Ukraine with no prior combat experience, he remained confident he could be trained to help in whatever way he was needed.

After he arrived in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, it took days to find a point of contact for the Foreign Legion and weeks to receive his approval, credentials, gear, and weapons. “It was chaos, absolute confusion when I arrived,” Skye says. “That was no one’s fault; it took some time to get everyone settled, and that is hard to do when half the country is fleeing and the other half is fighting.”

During the waiting period, Skye put his presence to good use by helping local volunteers stock and distribute supplies. “I’d never met Ukrainians before,” he says. “These people have stolen my heart. They accepted me from the first day, they’ve shown me kindness and love, given me food to eat and clothes to wear. Whenever I walk into the building of the depot, we hug. I’m so moved seeing how everyone here is involved in this war effort. Teachers and artists and students who have stayed are finding ways to help — it inspires me to keep doing what I’m doing.” 

Skye soon began training as a first-aid medic, putting together individual first-aid kits packed with tourniquets, chest seals, needle decompression kits, and combat gauze. “There are still hospitals operating in some parts of the country, but road access to get there is dangerous and there’s no guarantee there will be space for you once you make it there,” Skye says.  

In April, Skye settled in with the SSO (a branch of Ukrainian special forces), joining a unit made up of men from all over the globe. “There’s German, French, Canadian,” he says. “I’m serving beside young kids, people in their 20s to fathers and grandfathers in their 60s —  we are all here for the same reason: to protect the people of Ukraine.”

Every day is different for Skye, who is now actively conducting combat operations in the Kharkiv region. Between missions, he and his unit are learning different weapon systems, medical training, and small-unit tactics.

“We are constantly hearing air raid sirens, machine-gun fire just down the road,” he says. “It sounds like rolling thunder at night; usually I can sleep pretty well, but when the big bombs drop — no one can sleep through those. It’s intense, and yet, at the same time, you wake up in the morning and see people outside walking their dogs, watering their gardens — this is what survival looks like.”

Entire cities in Ukraine have been destroyed, gutted by Russian shelling, and historical buildings and monuments have been left in ruins, unrecognizable from only a few months ago. According to a U.N. report released in June, more than 4,000 civilian lives have been lost since the war broke out in February, including at least 200 children.

“My heart goes out to the parents who can only do so much to protect their kids and to a generation of kids who will grow up having lost their parents in this fight,” Skye says. “I think about them when I’m tired, when things get tough here, when I miss my own family back home.”

Skye has been able to keep in touch periodically with his family and friends, posting photos on social media and checking in on the messaging app Telegram. “Back home, a few days without a phone call to my mom would go unnoticed — here, if there’s too much silence on my side, people start fearing for the worst,” Skye says. 

Ukraine is no closer to peace or justice now than it was in the winter, but many are still holding out hope the circumstances will soon change, and as quickly as the war began, it will end. “The Ukrainian people are unbelievably strong and resilient,” says Skye in a recent phone call, months after his departure. “The young men I serve with on the front lines are normal civilians during peacetime and have been called to war to protect and defend their families and their way of life. They are fighting for everything and I’m honored to be here fighting beside them.” 

Jericho Skye has been gone for 107 days. Soon after Russia invaded Ukraine, escalating a yearlong war and causing Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II, 26-year-old Army veteran and California native Skye left his home in Ojai and headed for the Polish border. 

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