Four ambulances filled with medical supplies are waiting at a dock in Poland for the arrival of Federal Way community members to deliver them to the front lines of the Russia-Ukraine war.

This will be the tenth trip to Ukraine for South King Fire Chaplain Vitaliy Piekhotin since the full-scale Russian invasion began in February 2022. He has lived in Federal Way for many years and has five children here, but stays very involved with the community overseas as well.

Piekhotin will travel there this time with his wife, Irina, as well as his father and a close friend. Together they will work with local paramedic teams to deliver the supplies where they are most needed.

“Our mission is to support medics and chaplains at work,” Piekhotin said.

Since the start of the war with Russia, Piekhotin and the Ukrainian community here in Federal Way and the surrounding cities have been working to gather supplies to support the effort.

Despite a recent success for Ukraine in destroying 10% of Russia’s strategic bombing capabilities and attempts at ceasefire discussions, drone attacks in retaliation from Russia have only increased as the war continues.

In addition to delivering medical supplies, prosthetics and bulletproof vests in the past, Servants of Compassion also delivered two ambulances in late 2024.

These first ambulances were purchased from a company that sells retired emergency vehicles on the East Coast of the U.S. When Piekhotin returned to talk with them about purchasing additional ambulances for this trip, the company offered to donate four vehicles to the effort, he told the Mirror.

The ambulances and their load of supplies arrived in Poland earlier than expected. The Servants of Compassion team members are now working to purchase tickets and coordinate with partners across the ocean to get them where they need to go.

Once the team arrives in Poland, they will pick up the ambulances and drive them across the border into Ukraine.

After stopping in Federal Way’s sister city of Rivne, they will deliver the ambulances to four different combat zones where medics are serving in different regions.

Piekhotin said he will also be providing his services as a chaplain along the way. Often this means visiting and offering spiritual and emotional support to soldiers who are recovering after being hurt in battle.

The four ambulances have been stuffed full of hundreds of specialized medical supplies, including everything from lumbar puncture kits for children to surgical probes, sterile medical clothing, respirators, ultrasound gel and much more. These supplies were paid for by funds raised by Servants of Compassion.

Once funds are raised, supplies are purchased and shipped and the team arrives safely. They will still face challenges as they navigate the country in the midst of a war.

During the last trip, they ran into one such challenge as they pulled up to a checkpoint in the late evening.

It was about 11 p.m. and curfew was drawing near, Piekhotin told the Mirror, when they pulled up to the final checkpoint. After reviewing all their paperwork, they were told they might have to turn around and wouldn’t be let through.

With the curfew in place, this would have put them in a precarious situation, violating the curfew by being outside, but with no time to drive anywhere to stay for the night.

Their saving grace came in the form of a letter from Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell, detailing the sister city relationship between Rivne and Federal Way. That single letter carried enough weight to tip the scales and get the ambulances across the checkpoint and to safety.

This time, they also go to Ukraine bearing a letter from Ferrell, as conditions continue to be explosive in the combat zone.

Piekhotin shared photographs and stories with the Mirror of the devastation he has witnessed on the last nine trips, including houses full of bullet holes and bodies, the remnants of ambulances and the empty shells of bombed buildings.

While going to the front lines in a war zone might not seem like a privilege, it is a chance to take action and visit friends and family that many Ukrainian refugees in Federal Way don’t have.

Piekhotin told the Mirror that one of the highlights of this trip will be a chance to deliver gifts and visit with his close friend’s son, whose father lives in Federal Way. Piekhotin is able to leave the United States and return, whereas his friend doesn’t have that option due to his status.

“I’m going to be there to be like his father, bringing him some cookies and good spiritual support,” Piekhotin said.

If Piekhotin’s friend chose to visit his son himself, he wouldn’t know for sure that he could come back to the United States anytime soon, he explained. With a pregnant daughter due any day, that isn’t a risk he is willing to take right now.

Piekhotin said many in the Ukrainian community are feeling fear over the nation’s immigration crackdown.

Some local Ukrainians are here under a Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that was extended in January to be valid through October 19, 2026.

As an immigrant, he said it makes him sad to see immigrants being treated badly, whether they are Ukrainian or not, saying of the United States: “We were the country for people from all over the world…this is the beauty of our nation…we all came here, some came ten years ago, some came a hundred years ago, we built this country…and now we are splitting.”

In the midst of these community anxieties at home, Piekhotin and the other Servants of Compassion will be on his way to Ukraine within the next two weeks, ready to deliver the supplies along with encouragement and spiritual and emotional support for those working to heal the wounds of war.

• Learn more: To learn more about Servants of Compassion and/or support their work, reach out at 206-651-9884 or at servantsofcompassion@yahoo.com.

Irina and Vitaliy Piekhotin show some of the many medical supplies packed into an ambulance headed to the front lines in Ukraine. Photo provided by Vitaliy Piekhotin.