Mykola Melnyk never expected to go to war. He was a lawyer working in the Ukrainian parliament with a promising career ahead of him. But in 2014, everything changed when along with thousands of young Ukrainians, he participated in the Maidan Revolution that led to the removal of Ukraine’s then pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

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When Russian troops then invaded and annexed Crimea, Melnyk joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, one of several hastily formed militias that fought against Russian forces, before eventually becoming a company commander in the regular Ukrainian Army.

The war intensified in 2022 when Russian forces pushed into Western Ukraine in an attempt to seize the entire country. In June 2023, Melnyk was severely wounded in a Russian attack that took his right leg and most of his left foot.

Today he walks on a pair of prosthetics and with a cane. But though no longer on the front line, the war hasn’t ended for him.

Recently he and two fellow Ukrainian veterans visited Oahu, where they met with members of Hawaii’s Ukrainian diaspora, government officials and business leaders as they shared their stories of what they’ve seen in the war and raised money to support the children of Ukrainian soldiers who have died in the bloody conflict.

Melnyk is the founder of the charity Brave Children of Ukraine, and sits on the board of the organization with Oleg Bonchynskiy — a construction worker-turned soldier who lost his left eye in battle — and Denys Hayda, a former bartender who fellow soldiers nicknamed “cyborg” for his discipline and ferocity in combat.

The organization uses money it raises to fund scholarships, back to school supply drives, psychological counseling, medical support for special needs children, birthday gifts and other services.

“The kids must know that they’re not alone in this world,” said Melnyk. “That in their future they have strong support from the friends of their fathers, from the community of their fathers.”

The three have been touring the United States, speaking at schools, libraries, churches and any other venue that will host them.

On Sept. 22 that journey brought them to Hawaii, where they spent a week working with the Honolulu-based Ukrainian Cultural Center Pacific. The organization estimates there are about 2,000 Ukrainians in Hawaii.

“In Hawaii we have a very active Ukrainian community and we want to support it,” said Melnyk.

While on Oahu they met with Gov. Josh Green, members of the state Legislature, and addressed several community groups. They spoke with audiences about their personal experiences, their work supporting children orphaned by the war, and raised money for their charity.

They also met with the Hawaii Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Council, which hosted a meeting that included current and retired military leaders hoping to learn from their experiences in the war, and how Ukrainian troops have adapted to repel invading Russian forces.

Hayda, who fought in the earliest battles of the conflict, said that at the beginning combat was primitive and at times felt almost medieval, but over time came to more resemble science fiction films he grew up with.

“That’s why we teach our experience, give our knowledge, because our knowledge, our experience, our technology could protect lives of your soldiers, protect life of your brothers or sisters,” said Hayda.

In the early stages of the war, as Russian forces consolidated their gains in Eastern Ukraine, both sides had dug trenches and fought a bloody — but relatively low-intensity conflict — as they took potshots at each other across the lines.

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But over time, both sides began experimenting with drones, 3D printing machines and satellite systems that reshaped how they fought.

When Russian forces pushed into Western Ukraine in 2022, the development of new technology only accelerated — as did the death toll for both soldiers and civilians — as Russian drones and missiles have battered Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

Ukrainian forces have retaliated with their own strikes, which have gone deeper and deeper inside of Russia as the war has dragged on.

Among the technologies that made their battlefield debut in the war were Iranian-designed Shahed drones — cheap, easily produced remote-controlled robots that are equipped with explosives and flown directly into targets — which have been used to deadly effect by Russian forces.

They have lately been used by Iranian forces against U.S. forces in the Middle East since America and Israel began bombing Iran on Feb. 28, sparking off a regional conflict that has essentially led to the shutdown of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz thrown global oil markets into chaos.

Melnyk, who trained with American forces before Russia’s 2022 offensive, said that when he talks to American military personnel now, he tells them “you don’t have an understanding of the modern world. Your training is old, your weapons are old, your vehicles are old, your tactics are old, your doctrine is old. You’re strong, but old.”

The War in Ukraine has been watched closely from countries across the Pacific, as well as by commanders in Hawaii who have been planning for potential conflict in the region. Chinese commanders also have been watching closely and have consulted with Russian veterans of the war.

In 2024 North Korean soldiers joined the conflict, fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine. The South Korean government estimates they took heavy casualties, with 6,000 killed or seriously wounded. But American and South Korean officials have said that survivors that have returned to North Korea are now training fellow soldiers based on their experiences.

Bonchynskiy said that Pacific communities should take that very seriously.

“We cannot tell when and where this Russian war machine will stop,” he argued. “People here in the Pacific should care because we know that China is a big provider of the parts of the weapons to Russia … if Russia wins in Ukraine, we know that China and Russia will obtain a lot of technology.”

Last year, the war made its way to the shores of the Pacific when, on May 30, two explosions rocked the coastal base of a Russian military unit stationed just outside the far eastern port city of Vladivostok. Ukraine’s military intelligence service later claimed responsibility, saying the attack was carried out to avenge alleged war crimes committed by members of the Russian unit in Ukraine.

On Monday in France, Pope Leo XIV gave a speech to European leaders in which he criticized those who have sought to bolster military spending and weapons production and said they should “show courage in negotiation and to be willing to give up some positions for the greater good of ​peace.”

While flying back to Rome, he told reporters accompanying him that Russian and Ukrainian leaders need “to sit down, to engage in dialogue, to seek ways of resolving problems without continuing these wars that no longer make sense.”

When asked what it would take to bring an end to the war and a peaceful resolution between Ukraine and Russia, Melnyk said he doesn’t believe that’s possible as long as Russian President Vladimir Putin holds power and argued that many Americans are naive about the nature of the conflict.

He argued that “you may think you can stay out if it and say ‘please live in your country, we’ll live in our country, you build your country, we’ll build our country.’ (But) dictators do not think like you.”

Melnyk said Russia’s leaders have told their people that defeating Ukraine is part of a larger struggle against America, and that “in their opinion, they fight against the U.S.A. and you don’t understand, the Russians hate you all. For Russians, you are more the enemy than we are.”

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