Dead U.S. War Hero’s Dad Is Finishing His Son’s Mission in Ukraine

KHARKIV, Ukraine—Valentina Lavrinenko, 60, is fighting back tears while trying to heat some Ukrainian borscht over a small gas stove at her daughter's apartment in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine. The city is being pounded by Russian bombs daily, resulting in frequent power cuts.

It has been over a year and a half since Skyler Gregg, an American volunteer in the Ukrainian army, died at the frontline. The eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, where Valentina used to live with her husband Viktor, had been under Russian occupation for seven months until the Ukrainian Army sent the Russians fleeing n September 2022.

She recalled the young American arriving almost like a knight on a white horse. His Colgate smile and kind soul are impossible for her to forget. Skyler, from Washington state, helped Valentina and Viktor reconnect with their daughter and son via Starlink in 2022 after the liberation. It melted Valentina's heart.

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