KHARKIV ā Each time U.S. philanthropist Amed Khan returns to Ukraine, he begins by offering condolences for those killed in the war since his last trip. Over the past two and a half years, his group has provided over $50 million in aid to civilians and soldiers fighting to survive Russiaās invasion.
Some of those are already dead.
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For Khan, a U.S. government official turned philanthropist, those he supports are like family. He travels to meet them on the front lines and in war-torn cities. His closeness to those enduring the war also exposes him to the pain and loss they experience first-hand.
āWhen youāre involved with people directly, you feel the pain of war,ā he says, moments after meeting a father who survived a bombing that killed his son.
Khan and many other Americans across the U.S. political spectrum who support Ukraine's war effort, either through financial aid or voluntary combat, say the U.S. ā Ukraineās main ally ā hasnāt done enough to help Ukraine defeat Russia. They doubt Tuesdayās U.S. elections will change that.
āSince the war began, the United States did manage to rally the allies to support Ukraine, but not in the way it should,ā said Khan, who worked on the re-election campaign for then-President Bill Clinton in 1996.
āSo my belief is that their strategy is not for Ukraine to necessarily win and for Russia to lose.ā
He spoke to The Associated Press over the weekend in the eastern Kharkiv region, one of several stops on his planned route ā all located along the front line.
The U.S. has provided over $59.5 billion in military aid since Russia invaded in 2022, yet many say Kyivās potential has often been stymied by American politics. Ukrainian officials say that promised weapons frequently arrive late.
Zelenskyās requests for an invitation to join NATO and permission to use Western-donated weapons to strike deeper into Russia have been met with caution by the Democratic administration of President Joe Biden over fears of escalation with a nuclear-armed Russia.
Biden's vice president, the Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, is likely to pursue a similar policy, while former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, has repeatedly taken issue with U.S. aid to Ukraine and might seek to further limit military support, though he also has cited an undetailed plan to end the war quickly.
Meanwhile, Russia has succeeded in strengthening its alliances with Iran and North Korea, the latter reportedly sending troops to aid Russiaās fight.
āIf the war escalates, then weāre in it ā¦ and weāre not even providing Ukraine enough to win,ā another U.S. philanthropist, Howard G. Buffett, said during a recent visit to Ukraine, his 16th since the outbreak of the war. āAnd weāve never had a strategy on how weāre going to defeat Russia," Buffett said.
Buffett, a Republican and son of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, focuses on humanitarian needs like infrastructure, agriculture, and demining, and his foundation has contributed about $800 million to Ukraine.
āIf Ukraine is not successful, the rest of the democratic world is going to pay a high price,ā Buffett told AP. āAnd the fact that we donāt all collectively understand that, see that, and act on it is going to be the biggest mistake of what will ever occur in my lifetime.ā
Compelled by this same belief, one American volunteer flew to Poland in August to enlist in Ukraineās international legion, after ruminating over the choice for about a year.
āI feel like the decision was harder than it should have been,ā says the 35-year-old fighter, who asked to be identified by the call sign Smoky in keeping with Ukrainian military protocol. A former accountant with no military experience, he now serves in one of Ukraineās units in eastern Kharkiv region.
Smoky, a father of two young daughters, says watching the impact of Russiaās invasion on Ukrainian families āweighed heavilyā on him.
While the U.S. election campaign rages back home, Smoky says heās glad to be āaway from all that drama.ā Instead he is focused on preparing for his first mission as an infantryman.
āWeāre tying Ukraineās hands with restrictions on using specific weapons,ā he argues. āIt feels like weāre just prolonging the war.ā
Another 25-year-old volunteer fighter from Texas, with the call sign Dima, began a three-month commitment to fight in Ukraine in 2022, and that has since turned into a commitment of years.
A former Marine, he has seen some of the warās fiercest battles, including the longest one for Bakhmut, after which he took his only break. When he flew back to meet his family and friends at home, nobody could relate to his experiences.
On top, āthe U.S. is dealing with so many problems of our own right now,ā he said.
āSo theyāre feeling like less inclined now to send more of our tax money here, which I understand,ā he said. āBut as an individual thatās been here since the beginning of the war, I see it is definitely needed.ā
Khan, who now manages about 300 ongoing projects in Ukraine, urged his fellow U.S. citizens to focus on the lives shattered by the conflict in Ukraine, stressing that the warās outcome could significantly affect global security.
Khan said he hopes the winner of the U.S. presidential election will "really, really spend more time understanding what's happening here. I would urge whoever wins to do that and then try and seek a new way forward to end this war.ā
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Associated Press journalist Volodymyr Yurchuk contributed to this report.