BOONE, N.C. — The world watched one year ago as the explosions began in Ukraine. Russia launched an attack on its neighbor.
Many people in Europe turned into soldiers overnight. Hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians have died. The war rages on with no end in sight.
Boone-based Samaritan's Purse has watched it all from the frontlines. Shortly after the war began, the Christian organization deployed to Poland, which borders Ukraine.
"Part of our calling is to run to the fire and go to the hard place and do the hard thing," Dave Phillips, deputy director of international projects for Samaritan's Purse, said.
Phillips oversees the organization's response in Ukraine.
Samaritan's Purse has treated more than 23,000 people in its emergency field hospital. The organization has sent 135 million pounds of food from North Carolina to Ukrainians in need.
Phillips said Samaritan's Purse's response shifted as strategies in the war changed.
"Winter became a tool of war," Phillips said.
Phillips explained that Russia targeted key infrastructure as the winter cold swept over the region. He said doctors struggled to treat people because the patients were so cold.
Samaritan's Purse prioritized setting up wood stoves in homes and giving people warm clothes.
"We're trying to adapt to the needs we see on the ground and to serve with excellence while also serving and helping people in Jesus' name," Phillips said.
Phillips said he expects people to naturally wonder when both the war and the organization's service ends. He said Samaritan's Purse prays for the human suffering to end. Until it does, the team of doctors, engineers, disaster response specialists and others aren't going anywhere.
"Our calling is to go and love in Jesus' name and help in their time of crisis," Phillips said. "Right now, Ukraine is in a time of crisis. For each day the war goes by, some people's lives, that crisis gets worse."
The United States formally accused Russia of committing crimes against humanity last Saturday. The federal government has sent tens of billions of dollars in aid and military equipment packages to Ukraine.