Star Tribune
Escaping bombs and war sirens, 30 Ukrainian teens visit Minnesota to learn about constructive change
Sofia Pisna heard the bombs go off at the airport in her hometown of Boryspil, 18 miles southeast of Kyiv. It was Feb. 24, 2022 — the day Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine.
“I started shaking,” recalled Sofia, 15. “I was scared for my life. … My mother was in a panic. It was really scary.”
“It’s like a nightmare in which you can’t wake up,” said Maksym Kulynych, also 15, from Poltava in east-central Ukraine. “I don’t understand why [Russia] did it. It makes no sense to me.”
Sofia and Maksym are among 30 Ukrainian teenagers who are visiting Minnesota for five weeks this summer, experiencing American sights and sounds as they participate in programs to challenge their thinking, encourage greater self-expression and expose them to Western institutions.
They were brought here by Global Synergy Group, a St. Louis Park nonprofit that’s raising $90,000 to cover the teens’ travel expenses and related costs.
“The purpose is leadership development — developing their capacity to take responsibility for themselves and others, confidence in their voice so they can express their point of view, and skills to build a team around them,” said Irina Fursman, co-founder with her husband Richard of Global Synergy Group.
Not to mention that the trip gives the Ukrainian youths, who are staying with local host families, “a break from the war,” Fursman said.
On Thursday, the teens, draped in Ukrainian flags, waved to crowds who cheered and waved back as they took part in the daily parade at the Minnesota State Fair.
“It’s very exciting, it’s fun,” said Olha Lynnyk, 16. “I love it,” added Ehor Karanchuk, 15, who said she was amazed by the number of people watching them as they passed by in a wagon pulled by an SUV.
They were welcomed to Minneapolis in mid-August by Mayor Jacob Frey and City Council Member Michael Rainville before engaging in an exercise organized by Global Synergy Group, in which they pretended to run a regional government.
After electing 14-year-old Mary Severyn as mayor, the youths selected six city council members who took their seats where Minneapolis City Council members normally sit. They debated and then approved a resolution inviting six regional Ukrainian organizations to send youths to Minnesota in 2024, rather than the current three.
“I like making decisions,” Mary said. “I want to create a new leadership in Ukraine. That is my dream.”
On another morning, they were welcomed to Bloomington by Mayor Tim Busse and broke into small groups at City Hall to plan and create an idyllic community, with waterways and shops and cultural venues.
“I’m really excited by this program,” said Yelyzaveta Pylypchuk, 16. “It would be really great to change some things in our city and our country.”
On Aug. 24, they attended a street gathering of several hundred people, many of Ukrainian descent, in northeast Minneapolis to celebrate their country’s Independence Day. There was face painting, speeches and music.
Feeling empowered
One of the youths, Rostyslav “Rosty” Lysak, 16, lives with his parents in an apartment in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, about 25 miles from the Russian border. The day the war started, bombs fell within a quarter-mile of their home.
“In the first three hours of the war, our shelter was completely destroyed,” he said.
The family hastily gathered some belongings and then fled by car to Chernivtsi, more than 600 miles to the east. They have since returned to Kharkiv.
“Every week there are at least two or three missile attacks and some drone attacks,” Rosty said. “It’s better now because of our air defense.”
Fursman wanted to bring the teenagers to Minnesota to help influence change in her native land. She grew up in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States in 2002 to marry Richard, whom she had met online.
“I lost all hope [at that time] that Ukraine would change,” she said. “It was so corrupt.”
Fursman’s father was in the Soviet Navy when he was murdered on a remote military base in eastern Siberia when the Communist government was collapsing in the 1990s. At the age of 15, she said, she was twice jailed for writing a letter to a prosecutor on behalf of someone she felt had been treated unjustly.
Change in Ukraine, she said, “needs to start with young people.”
Yosyf Sabir, a biologist and member of Stand With Ukraine MN, an organization for Minnesotans helping Ukraine, applauded the idea of bringing the teens to Minnesota.
“This is a chance to inspire these children, to tell them despite the trauma that they are experiencing, there is a future filled with hope — a future they will be creating with their own hands and minds and hearts,” he said.
Corruption in Ukraine is real, Sabir said. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine came under the control of ex-Communist oligarchs who “usurped all of the power, politically and economically and [took] control of the media,” he said. Future leaders of Ukraine, he said, need skills and education rather than indoctrination in “Soviet ideas of corruption.”
In interviews, several of the teens described how unscrupulous behavior had even permeated the school system. Sofia said that some students who failed school exams were allowed to advance when their parents paid off school administrators.
The youths consider the Ukrainian soldiers to be heroes, and some said they are helping to sew camouflage netting coverings that make it harder for Russian invaders to spot Ukrainian soldiers. Several of their fathers have enlisted to fight for Ukraine.
“My dad joined the armed forces when the Russians invaded,” said Yaryna Hyrnchuk, 16, who lives in Kyiv. “I didn’t hear from him for a solid month. He was hospitalized after a battle.”
At the First Ukrainian Society of Minneapolis, the teenagers met with a group of peace activists who opposed U.S. military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of them now support American military aid to help Ukraine resist the Russian invasion.
“Our thoughts are with you,” Terry Burke told the youths. “You inspire us to redouble our efforts to fund raise and help the people of Ukraine any way we can.”
The teens found the State Fair to be an eye-opener, and not just because of the crowds.
“There’s a lot of food that’s especially unhealthy,” Rosty said. “When I saw the fried pickles, I thought, ‘How was this even possible?'”
The youngsters seemed particularly happy to mingle at the Independence Day gathering with the crowd, many of whom were Ukrainian Americans.
“I feel empowered to meet so many Ukrainian-speaking people,” Yaryna said.
“I’m so proud to be here and so honored that they are supporting Ukraine,” said Andrew Sakhno, 17. “It’s great to see so many Ukrainian flags. I feel like I’m in my Ukrainian home.”
Dozens wept and embraced before releasing scores of balloons Saturday over north Minneapolis to remember two community pillars who were killed in a fiery car accident.
The crowd gathered near 26th and Emerson avenues to remember Esther Jean Fulks, 53, and Rose Elaine Reece, 57. They died on Dec. 16 when Teniki Latrice Elise Steward, 38, allegedly drove through a red light and struck their vehicle. A teen waiting at a nearby bus stop also was injured.
Fulks and Reese “gave their love and their hard work and dedication to the community. And as you can see, there’s people out here for them,” said Fulks’ daughter, D’Nia. “I’m going to miss my mom. That was my world, I was with her day in and day out. I was hoping to come home to my mom and it didn’t happen.”
“It means a lot,” Esther’s son, Joseph Loyd, said of neighbors attending the balloon release. “It shows what they contributed to the community and how much they meant to people. Not just their own families, but they touched countless other families and helped people.”
Emmary Thomas set a candle down at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece at 26th and Emerson avenues in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Flowers, balloons, candles and pictures sat at a bus stop during a balloon release Saturday for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Drakarr Lobley hugged a supporter during Saturday’s balloon release for Esther Fulks and Rose Reece in north Minneapolis. Fulks and Reece died in a crash at the intersection on Dec. 16. Lobley is Reece’s son. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Family and friends said Fulks and Reece were pillars of the community who treated strangers like family and brought love to those around them. Both had worked as navigators for the Minneapolis Cultural Wellness Center since 1998, connecting residents to food, clothing, shelter and other resources.
“They reminded us daily of the transformative power of service, love, and cultural connection,” Elder Atum Azzahir, executive director of the Cultural Wellness Center, said in a statement. “They were not just navigators — they were beacons of hope, guiding people toward brighter futures.”
At the crash scene Saturday, loved ones embraced while shedding tears and sharing memories. Anthony Hamilton’s “I Can’t Let Go” played as passing motorists shouted condolences and words of support. Caution tape strung to a traffic cone near the intersection fluttered in the wind.
Hit by headwinds including inflationary pressures, competition from e-commerce sites, big box retailers, pop-up stores and even a helium shortage, Party City is going out of business.
The closing of the nation’s largest party supply store, reported by CNN on Friday, is expected to shutter more than 700 retail stores in North America by the end of February, including 10 stores in Minnesota.
According to the company’s website, Party City has outlets in Apple Valley, Bloomington, Chanhassen, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Maplewood, Roseville, St. Cloud, St. Louis Park and Woodbury. Employees contacted at stores in Roseville, St. Cloud and Apple Valley said they had heard of the closing but could not comment.
Party City, which sells everything from balloons, costumes and birthday banners to gender reveal props and New Year’s Eve tiaras, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023. That resulted in the cancellation of nearly $1 billion in debt.
The 38-year-old New Jersey-based company exited bankruptcy after naming a new CEO, Barry Litwin, in August. But the company was still contending with more than $800 million in debt, according to CNN. The New York Times reported the company employed more than 16,000 people.
A panel of independent health experts recommended this month against older adults using vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent falls and fractures, citing inadequate evidence to support their effectiveness.
The guidance from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force underscores the risks of supplementation without prior testing and diagnosis for a vitamin D deficiency or for osteoporosis.
While vitamin D and calcium are important for bone health and muscle function, the task force, a blue-ribbon panel of experts in disease prevention and evidence-based medicine, said the supplements do little to reduce falls or fractures, and they may increase the risk of kidney stones.
The task force said the recommendation applies to people living at home, including women who have gone through menopause and men 60 years and older. It does not apply to people in assisted living or nursing homes because people living in those facilities may be more prone to health complications, including risk of falls.
Patients whose medical providers have suggested supplements as part of their clinical regimen are recommended to continue with that guidance.
The task force assigned a grade of D to the recommendation, indicating that it advises against use of the supplements because of moderate or high certainty that they provide no net benefit or that the harms outweigh the benefits — discouraging its use.
Falls are the leading cause of injury-related death among people 65 and older, a problem that increased steadily from 2012 to 2021. In 2020, health care spending related to falls in older adults that did not result in death was $80 billion, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
John M. Ruiz, a task force member, said the answer to minimizing the risk of falling does not lie in vitamin supplementation. He said a review of research by the health experts found no dose of vitamin D with or without calcium was useful in preventing falls and fractures.
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