WAR IN UKRAINE: Ukrainian official calling on Waco, surrounding areas to help where they can

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Traveling more than 6,000 miles to meet with Waco officials and two area non-profits, a Ukrainian state official is letting us know what we can do to help the Ukrainian refugees already in Texas as well as those on the war’s frontlines.

For those refugees seeking shelter in Texas, just making sure they’re safe plays a big part--being so far from home, some not speaking any English, makes them more susceptible to human trafficking.

On the frontlines, just think, some people have lost children, some have lost limbs in battle and some have lost everything they’ve ever known.

We can provide everyone with the resources to process their PTSD appropriately.

Odesa state representative Alexander Denisenko says what we see on tv is nothing compared to living it.

“It’s actually a lot worse than what you saw in the beginning because of the devastation and attacks,” said Denisenko. With thousands of refugees in Texas, we can play a huge role in keeping them safe. “Communicate with them, talk with them. They’re not here on their will. They evacuated their country because of the war.”

Normal conversations can be a great way to ensure anyone seeking refuge in Texas doesn’t fall victim to human trafficking.

“A very large thing right now is going to be the rehab, like a special post-traumatic syndrome for the military, for people that lost family members either due to the war or human trafficking,” said Denisenko.

Having previously sent someone to Poland to analyze and teach combative trafficking measures, McLennan County Sheriff Parnell McNamara is more than willing to help in the fight.

“I’m just very happy we can help in some way, but I think it says a lot about the effort of unbound and the trafficking coalition here to be a part of what’s going on over there,” said Sheriff McNamara.

“We need your experience with how to deal with that and how to approach it but at the same time how to be a compassionate Christian in order to give the help they actually need right now,” said Denisenko.

Something else Denisenko says Ukraine needs help ensuring the safe return of 7,000 Ukrainian children currently orphaned in Russia.

“They stole about 7,000 children from Ukraine and we’re actually fighting right now to get them back to Ukraine.”

It’s no easy task as parents risk going missing, crossing into Russian territory to pick up their children.

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