St. Cloud man returns to Minnesota after fighting for Ukrainian Army
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- He heard the cry for help from the president of Ukraine and answered the call. Now, a St. Cloud man is back from fighting in Ukraine and is sharing his story.
31-year-old Elias Partridge left his job at Amazon in St. Cloud to help the people of Ukraine fight for their freedom.
He spent two months in the country.
Wearing a Ukrainian Army Uniform, he worked with other volunteers from the U.K. and Europe who were also compelled to help Ukrainians hold their ranks.
Elias Partridge's work at Amazon is a world away from his time spent in Ukraine, a country he felt compelled to help.
"The United States can't go, neither can the rest of NATO of Europe. No one can really put other boots on the ground but the president of Ukraine asked for help and I can help," said Partridge.
So he took a leave of absence from his job.
"I had a backpack. I put five pairs of clothes in there, a blanket and my Amazon jacket. I hopped on a plane and trains and buses from Poland to Lviv," Partridge said.
He says he noticed right away the determination of the Ukrainian people.
"There were crowds and crowds of people running around going to restaurants, laughing and listening to music and playing music in the street. They just refuse to be deterred from enjoying and living their lives," Partridge said.
Partridge did not know exactly what he was walking into.
"I thought I was joining the foreign legion, I was mistaken, I joined the actual army," Partridge said.
But it soon became clear.
"There was an air raid siren the night before I left that absolutely was... There were actual planes, you could see them. Buildings went dark, everyone has to turn everything off and go to the basements, the shelters. That was the night before I left Lviv on my way to the capital city," said Partridge.
It was there he received his military ID, kit and uniform.
"I was in training for about two weeks. My unit was deployed to a couple of places. We were primarily support and reinforcements. There is still a lot going on the unit is still active so I can't get into all the specifics," Partridge said.
What he can say is he did face danger, he did see war and what it does to a people and their homeland.
"That's my unit so it's the special operations division called Evenboken. Lots of complicated memories good and bad," Partridge said.
Elias is fluent in three languages - including Russian.
His enlistment in the Ukrainian Army was voluntary and expired the moment he left to return to the U.S.
