Police officer from Ukraine collects bulletproof vests for homeland

Apr. 28—DERRY — The pile of bulletproof vests in a variety of colors and conditions would normally be marked for destruction.

Instead, the 60 vests are ready for those fighting some 4,500 miles away in war-torn Ukraine.

Derry police officer Nikita Tomnyuk stands ready to collect more vests to send back to his native country of Ukraine to aid their underfunded military and militias.

"They don't have the resources," explained Tomnyuk.

While standard issue for American soldiers and law enforcement, the vests are scarce among Ukraine's military.

After Russia, a global superpower, invaded Ukraine two months ago, martial law was declared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Anyone who could or wanted to fight for the country's freedom was asked to immediately step up.

Derry's Police Chief Edward Garone first suggested collecting the vests for Ukraine. He turned to Tomnyuk, who came to the United States with his mother and sister 17 years ago, to coordinate the effort.

Tomnyuk, 23, who regularly speaks to his grandparents and other relatives in Ukraine, wants the community to be aware of the department's project and "to bring more awareness to the conflict," he said.

His relatives live in Chernivtsi, in the western part of Ukraine. They have told him about air raid sirens and taking refuge in their basements.

He was just 7 years old when he came to the United States and settled in Tamworth, New Hampshire, with his mother, sister and stepfather.

"It was a really hard decision for my mother," he explained. But America "is the land of opportunity."

"She thought our best chance of success was to come here," he said. "Even to this day, all the family we speak with, we would love to get them here."

At first speaking only Ukrainian, he said it took about 18 months to learn English.

After graduation from high school in 2016, he enrolled at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire.

He graduated there in 2020 with degrees in criminal justice, cybersecurity and business administration.

Becoming an American citizen allowed him to create "his own path."

"To be able to do what I want to do ... learn, achieve," he said.

Tomnyuk spoke at a recently Derry Town Council meeting about the vest collection. He also wants to alert other police departments and law enforcement agencies about the effort.

Whatever vests are collected will be sent Ukraine through the California National Guard, which is responsible for delivering items to Eastern Europe, Tomnyuk said.

To donate or for more information, Tomnyuk said he can be reached through the police department's business line at (603) 432-6111.

Tomnyuk said he tries to get all of his information on the conflict from his family in Ukraine.

"I try to stay away from the news," he said. "We try to limit ourselves to exposure because it does affect you."

And, he said, every goodbye is hard.

"Every time we hang up the phone we don't know if there will be a call back," Tomnyuk said.