Op-Ed by Derek Berlin, Logistics Plus SVP
Goerie; Erie, PA
Thu, Feb 27, 2025
We recently marked the third anniversary of Russian tanks, aircraft, missiles, and soldiers flooding across Ukraine’s border in an effort to swiftly occupy the country and remove the nation’s democratically elected leadership. That day marked the largest ground invasion in Europe since World War II.
The human dimension of America’s support for Ukraine
I have had the privilege over the past year to make numerous trips to Ukraine, spending nearly two months traveling throughout the country across five visits by virtue of my work with Erie-based Logistics Plus. Our company, founded by my father, Jim Berlin, 28 years ago in Erie, helped lead the way among American businesses in supporting the people of Ukraine in the immediate weeks after Russia’s invasion. Since the start of the conflict, under the leadership of my father and our Chief Operating Officer Yuriy Ostapyak, Logistics Plus has been proud to be what Jim calls “the tip of the shovel” in our efforts to provide support and partnership to the people of Ukraine.
Like many concerned Americans, our efforts first focused on humanitarian support, helping to welcome and find housing for Ukrainian families displaced by the conflict, delivering supplies directly to Ukraine that were donated directly by our company, or through the deep generosity of our many concerned employees and friends in Erie and across the country. When other international companies were understandably evacuating people and resources out of Ukraine, Jim and Yuriy made the call that Logistics Plus should be moving into Ukraine to fill the vacuum, opening Logistics Plus offices in the country shortly after the invasion to help ensure the stable flow of important materials from the United States into the country as it risked being erased from existence. In this work I have seen the best of what the American people stand for, uniting to come to the aid of others in common cause.
I am far from an expert on Ukraine or the Ukrainian people, but it does not take an expert to understand that a nation of citizens fighting to protect their homes from a violent intruder is a cause that reflects the values for which many Americans believe our nation must stand. Yet today in the United States, as we recognize this grim three-year anniversary, we find our country in the midst of an unprecedented period of uncertainty about the future of U.S. policy toward Ukraine, as well as our historic alliance partners in Europe. All of this is on the line.
While the Ukraine war is undoubtedly a matter of very real political and strategic significance in the United States demanding the attention of our elected leaders, it is also undoubtedly true that the significance of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship goes beyond any decisions in Washington, down to the actions and intent of citizens across American who have embodied the best of our values through their personal support and actions.
In my own experience, I have had the privilege of witnessing the amazing capacity and generosity of the people of the United States in developing personal ties and engagement with Ukraine, sparked by outrage on behalf of and affinity for the people of Ukraine as their lives and existence as an independent people are under threat.
The American people have long been among the most active and dynamic in the world at bridging people-to-people relationships outside the bounds of national government policy or formal government diplomacy through cultural and educational exchanges, commercial and private sector dialogues, and religious engagement.
These exchanges help reveal the humanity of those with whom we meet and cooperate, even if that is painful to see as in the case of Ukraine where lives are shattered and building partnerships can at times feel fruitless in the face of the Russians’ track record of destruction. But they are critical relationships, not only for building ties and shared assistance, but because they reveal deeper understanding.
For example, my company, Logistics Plus, is honored to be a leading supporter of a sister city agreement that was launched in December 2024 between the mayors of Erie and Chornomorsk, a port city outside of Odesa of around 60,000 people, which has suffered from a significant level of drone and missile attacks throughout the war. Though the ink on the agreement is hardly dry, an initial delivery of medical and first-aid equipment has already been delivered to Chornomorsk’s main hospital — which has been under unprecedented strain to support the needs of its population in a time of war — by the outstanding nonprofit, and partner in the sister city program, Task Force Antal https://taskforceantal.org/. The donation was received by the leaders of the hospital not only with gratitude, but an offer to come to Erie when the war is over to donate their time and energy in providing medical services for the population of Erie — as they were not seeking charity, but rather assistance that could be repaid in kind — cementing a true partnership.
This small step by the Erie sister city program is being mirrored in hundreds of scenes across Ukraine, where Americans are exhibiting our values through direct action and people-to-people partnership, and represents an important aspect of how America acts and is viewed around the world.
However, this same act on behalf of the Erie’s sister city program also reveals how hard building positive outcomes can be in the face of unchecked violence. In less than a week after the donations were provided to the hospital, both the hospital itself and other clearly civilian facilities in the surrounding area were struck by separate Russian air attacks, with the hospital damaged and nearby buildings destroyed. Sadly, these incidents were in no way an exception and just represented another week in Ukraine under Russian assault.
