TAMPA, Fla. — Last May, Kirillo Alexandrov crossed the border from Ukraine to Poland and hugged his mom. It’s a moment he will never forget.
“I’m so blessed to be back with my family,” he said.
The Michigan man was reunited with them after being captured by Russians from his home in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion.
“I lived on a hilltop. It was beautiful. I had a farm, and that was all ripped away,” he said.
Accused of being an American spy, Alexandrov feared the worst.
“I lost hope,” he recalled. “I had figured I’m going to die.”
But he didn’t die because of Bryan Stern and his Tampa-based nonprofit, Project Dynamo.
“I can’t really put it into words just how grateful I am for Project Dynamo and Bryan Stern,” said Alexandrov.
Project Dynamo rescues Americans trapped in dangerous situations across the globe in places like Afghanistan, Russia, and now Gaza.
“It’s extremely dangerous. It’s very violent. Hamas is a foreign terrorist organization. They’re brutal. They’re crazy,” said Stern. “They’re no different, really, than ISIS.”
Stern and his group have already rescued hundreds during the Israel-Hamas War, and the work isn’t done. Over the past few days, Stern saID he was stationed in Egypt, where he was attempting to rescue an American in Gaza who was captured by Hamas.
Thursday night, however, he was back in Tampa for an important pit stop.
“We need help,” he told a room full of people at Armature Works. “We need your help.”
At Project Dynamo’s inaugural “Red, White, & Rescued Gala,” he asked donors and prospective donors for more financial support to keep his non-profit’s important work going during a critical time.
“They’re the fuel. They’re the fuel,” he said of his donors. “Airplanes do not fly themselves. I can’t pay for intelligence. I can’t get Russians to commit high treason and espionage because I’m a nice guy. That’s not how it works.”
Alexandrov feels donors saved his life and feels more donations will only mean more lives are saved.
“That’s the most crucial part of all of this,” he said.
All told, Project Dynamo said it has completed more than 600 missions and rescued more than 6,800 people in the past two years.
Learn more about Project Dynamo here.
