Nebraska veteran, former lawmaker leads eighth mission to Ukraine during Russian invasion

LINCOLN — As Ukraine continues its multi-year resistance to Russian invasion, a former Nebraska state lawmaker and Army veteran is now halfway through his eighth fact-finding visit to the country since the war began.

Former State Sen. Tom Brewer, a 36-year veteran who has earned two Purple Hearts, continues to uplift stories of Ukrainians and build relationships with a small delegation to the European country. 

Speaking with the Nebraska Examiner about his latest trip from a hotel in Kyiv, Brewer said a concern among Ukrainians is a fear that the U.S. will walk away. Part of his team this trip traveled to document soldiers’ stories on the eastern front.

Worries include whether Ukrainians will keep their freedom, enjoy life and maintain the democracy they’ve come to know since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Brewer said. There is also concern about whether the world fends off a ripple of conflict to the rest of Europe or beyond.

“They’re going up against a very big enemy with a lot of resources,” Brewer said. “Without especially the United States, their chances of being able to win the war are really going to be very limited.”

An offensive opportunity

Brewer, who served eight years in the Nebraska Legislature until January, sees an opportunity for the U.S. to support Ukraine with a major offensive, “to break the backs of the Russians” in key locations, such as by destroying railheads, ports, bridges, refueling stations and other critical Russian infrastructure, including in Russia. 

Doing so would require more equipment, such as Tomahawk missiles, Brewer said, but coupled with Russia’s struggling economy, he thinks it could lead to a sooner end to the war.

“But if we continue to give them bits and pieces and string this out and let Putin decide that he doesn’t like this agreement … then this war will probably drag on for years,” Brewer said, fearing more deaths of Ukrainians and Russians.

Brewer has become a household name for many Nebraska-based Ukrainians who affectionately call him “lionheart” and a “brother in arms.”

While on past trips to Ukraine, Brewer’s team has seen the Russian aggression firsthand. They’ve sheltered in bunkers as artillery shells fell and seen Russian military drones flying above.

Ongoing peace talks

Peace talks loom over whether the war could end without an offensive push. Brewer recently said on Ukrainian television he worries Russian President Vladimir Putin will drag out the talks to try to break up NATO or the European Union or to try to fray key western alliances.

Brewer and other Nebraska officials, including Gov. Jim Pillen and multiple members of the state’s congressional delegation, say peace should not mean Ukraine loses land. 

For example, Brewer warned, losing the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine would cost the country the high ground and risk a “fast run” into other towns, including Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv and even Kyiv.

“It would just be a horrible thing to say we will let you, Russia, write a peace plan that totally favors you and disregards Ukraine, and that that becomes the standard that we’re going to have a peace plan,” Brewer said.

He described a 28-point peace plan President Donald Trump supported as exactly that.

“Ukraine wants to end the war,” Brewer said. “Don’t get me wrong. But they don’t want to do it at such a horrible price as to lose everything that they fought for.”

Losing Ukraine would also mean the loss of a major breadbasket of much of the world, Brewer said. It would also put Russia 600 miles closer to the Baltic states and closer to potential conflict with NATO allies. Weapons systems given to Ukraine would also fall into Russian hands.

‘How to drive on with life’

The latest Brewer-led trip again includes Don Hutchens, the former longtime executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board, as Brewer’s team continues its agricultural-focused mission. The group already toured grain facilities and continues to meet with Ukrainian officials.

Another important part of Brewer’s missions has been documenting Ukrainian stories. Brewer has partnered with multiple journalists on his trips, including enlisting Nebraska’s John Grinvalds, who has joined Brewer independently. Brewer’s team visited the eastern front to interview soldiers in the trenches during this latest trip.

A previous series about Ukraine from Grinvalds, produced with 10/11 News, won a regional Edward R. Murrow award. Grinvalds published another documentary series with KETV this summer.

“The more that the American people are educated on the situation, the better off for Ukraine, because their hearts are in it,” Brewer said in his recent interview with Ukrainian state television based in Kyiv.

The latest Nebraska-led trip coincides with the Christmas season, and Brewer said Ukrainians are still celebrating. Lights are on, many via generators in Kyiv, and kids are laughing.

It’s still clear Ukraine is at war, with the number of soldiers on the streets of Kyiv home on leave, Brewer said. But despite the worry that air raid sirens could go off and send everyone scrambling for bunkers, war is not affecting the day-to-day lives of Ukrainians.

“They figured out how to drive on with life, even though they’re at war and have been at war for quite a while now,” Brewer said. “It’s just part of the routine that they’ve come to accept.”

Pillen, Nebraska’s federal delegation reflect on Ukraine, Putin, eventual end to Russian invasion

‘A real heart for the Ukrainian people’

This time, Brewer came to Ukraine with a formal letter of support for his work from Pillen. It asks Ukrainian dignitaries to work with Brewer’s team. Pillen wrote that the Nebraska delegation comes on behalf of the state, intending to foster “a closer bond.” 

Among the named dignitaries in the letter are the Ukrainian ministers of veterans’ affairs and energy and the head of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast Military Administration.

“I ask that you grant them [Brewer and his team] full and unfettered access during their time and welcome you to share your thoughts and ideas for future cooperation between us,” Pillen wrote.

Pillen, who sat down with Grinvalds just before Brewer’s trip, said he is pleased to support Brewer’s efforts. He described Brewer, a retired Army colonel, as no stranger to serving in combat zones or providing support for special missions.

“He has a real heart for the Ukrainian people, and they could not be more grateful for his service on behalf of their country,” Pillen told the Examiner separately.

Brewer said many Ukrainians have an “old Soviet mindset” that someone isn’t official unless someone makes them official. So Pillen’s letter has the ability to open new doors, such as where Nebraska and Ukraine, with similar agricultural roots, might build future partnerships.

“You’re not some guy that just wandered in off the street and may want information or ask questions,” Brewer said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., ran into Brewer’s team before they left Omaha for Ukraine and told them: “Don’t get hurt over there.” He said he has known Brewer a long time and that he’s dedicated to serving.

“He, also like the rest of us, sees an opportunity for the United States and specifically Nebraska as such an agriculturally driven country,” Flood said. “I think we are and Senator Brewer [are] taking all the steps that we should be thankful for right now.”

A freedom-loving ally

Brewer said he recognizes many Americans might see Ukraine as just a European country that the U.S. has no “dog in the hunt” for, or that “it’s not part of what we should worry about.” But Brewer stresses Ukraine is the country that “did nothing wrong.”

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and killed many sons, daughters, fathers, mothers and even grandparents in “total war,” he said. Brewer and his team have seen and documented the destruction, including after rockets hit apartment buildings and the lives of civilians changed forever.

Brewer, who served six combat tours in Afghanistan and two in Kyrgyzstan, said Americans sometimes take freedom for granted, “because it’s just part of our life.”

“I think if you were to talk to the average Ukrainian, they would love to be more like us,” Brewer said. “They would be able to enjoy all of these freedoms and not have to constantly be fighting just to survive day to day.”

Once the war ends, Brewer said the European Union will help with a lot of funding, but he sees an opportunity for the U.S. to help with reconstruction, which could help Nebraska.

Brewer said the war in Ukraine reminds him of the American Revolution. As American colonists sought independence and freedom from the British, a much larger enemy, it was the French who made American independence possible by helping in places such as the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.

“They need help, and if they’re to be able to live to the ideals that we want to see countries be able to maintain and sustain, then we need to provide that help to them,” Brewer said of Ukraine.

He continued: “I know it sounds bad that, well, we got to send money there and all, but if it prevents us from filling body bags, I think we can afford to pay a much dearer price.”

Former State Sen. Tom Brewer speaks with Ukraine’s state-owned television on Ukraine’s “stand for democracy,” U.S.-Ukrainian relations, peace talks with Russia and more.