Interview with Emily Rutowski - Misha’s Angels
Emily Rutowski is a Michigander of Ukrainian-Polish heritage. A former corporate law attorney specializing in international transactions, she left her job at the onset of the unprovoked illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to work for a US-based, Ukrainian advocacy NGO. She moved to Kyiv and in 2023 founded Misha’s Angels, named after her kitten, who was rescued from the Donetsk front by her boyfriend, Andrew, and evacuated to Kyiv. As witness to the trauma experienced by Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the frontlines, she has entered a Masters in Social Work (MSW) program at Michigan State University (MSU) to become a therapist working with soldiers and veterans suffering from mental health issues, including PTS(D) and moral injury. She completed Michigan State University’s Combat Veterans Certificate, the only program in the US specifically focused on working with combat veterans. The interview has been edited for clarity.
JT: When I say Ukraine what is the first word that comes to mind?
Life. My life is focused every day on Ukraine, Ukraine’s soldiers and civilians tirelessly defending their country.
JT: What is Misha's Angels and why was it created? How has it evolved since its founding?
Misha is my two-year-old cat, rescued by my boyfriend and his unit from the frontlines in Donetsk. The unit that saved him were his angels, and the soldiers were always saying we were angels for bringing supplies…so Misha’s Angels. I started it in 2023 to raise funds for the Third Assault Brigade and other frontline units.
I flew to Ukraine in the fall of 2022 to see the situation for myself and was struck by the critical needs of the young men and women going to war for their country. I saw twenty-some-year-old men and women, standing with older, more grey-haired adult men, all signing up to go to the front to defend Ukraine from the Russian invaders. I knew I had to do something; and so, I returned in June 2023 to work with an NGO raising money to procure critical supplies for the soldiers. However, I realized that I could make a greater impact if I did it on my own. So I left and started Misha’s Angels. I raise funds and purchase supplies for the Third Assault brigade and other units trained by Andrew, a former US Marine and Purple Heart recipient who works as a trainer for the Ukrainian Marines.
In the summer of 2024, after Andrew was wounded, I have been supporting two other soldiers — Anatolii, a Ukrainian from Sumy (which borders Russia) and Maksym, a Ukrainian-American veteran who leads a mortar team. Over this past winter, we provided them with satellite internet, materials to build a bunker and mortar gear. Their only vehicle was recently damaged on a mission; and so, I am in the process of raising funds for a new truck equipped with anti-drone technology.
JT: How did you manage knowing that your boyfriend is on the frontlines, fighting in the hot spots?
It was hard. I stayed busy, fundraising, purchasing supplies and sending them to the frontline units, visiting wounded soldiers in the hospital from the units I supported, writing newsletters and posting on Misha’s social media platforms. At times it's a lonely existence. People with whom I’m close just couldn’t fathom the level of stress and worry I experienced.
Once, by chance, Andrew’s personal information was released on a Telegram channel, so he was pulled back to get his official papers re-issued. Therefore, he didn’t participate in a dangerous mission conducted by his unit that ended up being fatal. Too close for comfort, but I can’t dwell on the maybes. I can only provide support to the families and the colleagues of those who died and those who still fight on.
Andrew and his colleagues trained recruits to prepare them for the frontlines. These recruits aren’t professional soldiers- they are musicians, bakers, waiters and everyday people. They have had no war training. They need equipment, medical kits, ammunition, etc. So I raise funds to buy equipment in Ukraine or ship supplies from the States that are not forbidden by State Department International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
JT: You were a member of former Congressman Bonior’s 2024 delegation, looking at the critical need for mental health care in Ukraine. What can be done to improve training for Ukrainians to provide mental health assistance? What is being done to remove the stigma to accept mental health assistance?
Since that trip, Congressman Bonior and I have both shifted to working in veterans advocacy. So much needs to be done. We must address the reintegration of veterans after suffering such trauma at the frontlines, the loss of colleagues and the constant bombardment. Just the sheer violence that they have experienced and witnessed is overwhelming. Also, the trauma of civilians. Waiting for the next air raid siren. Fear. Mourning the death of family and friends killed at the frontlines. The loss of their homes and businesses. It’s overwhelming. Ukraine needs more mental health crisis counselors.
I recently participated in an online Zoom that Congressman Bonior organized that included many Ukrainian and American veterans’ organizations, including Ukrainian defenders from Mariupol who defended the Azovstal Steel Plant. It was an incredible experience to talk with them; I will never forget their photos. One project that I am helping organize after that call is an English club for Ukrainian veterans who would like to practice speaking English with American veterans.
My participation in the delegation spurred me to enroll in a social work master’s program, which I started this spring. I spent the last year completing the Michigan State University’s (MSU) Combat Veterans Certificate Program, the only of its kind in the States. The Combat Veterans Certificate Program introduced me to moral injury, which is something that I am particularly interested in. While PTS(D) stems from fear and danger, moral injury is a soul wound that results from damage to a person’s moral foundation. It can involve transgressions by self or others, as well as betrayal. Moral injury is finally being recognized as a distinct wound of war by the Veterans Administration.
I have been working with MSU to organize a few events focused on veteran mental health and Ukraine. We are planning a veterans town hall, where veterans can share their stories, something that has been proven to be effective in healing. Through this work, I have met many foreigners who fought in Ukraine and are having a hard time readjusting when coming home. I am in the process of setting up a support group for them, as well as their partners who are now dealing with a war to which few in their lives pays much attention.
There’s a great book, Tribe, by Sebastian Junger which has just been translated into Ukrainian. I hope more books like this, which address the issues of trauma and PTSD, will be translated and made available to Ukrainians.
JT: You lived in Ukraine for almost two years under war conditions. Could you describe what it was like living in a country fighting for its existence? How has it changed you? How has the country changed?
When I first arrived in Kyiv in the summer of 2022, it was eerily empty. No people walking the streets. No cars. Air raid warnings going off all the time. Blackouts. No water. The daily barrage of the city and the huge flow of desperate people coming into or through the city to escape the war was overwhelming and scary. The war was that close. Kyiv didn’t have the defensive weapons that it now has. Now, people are out shopping, walking, going to their jobs. People are going about their daily lives, but always with an ear for the air raid sirens and an eye to the sky. It’s surreal at times.
I traveled both to Lviv in the west and then close to the eastern front, where I took supplies for the units that Misha’s Angels supports. It was rough and the checkpoints were numerous, but it was and still is doable. I also mailed care packages to the units. You’d be surprised how well the postal service works in Ukraine! I once mailed cookies, and the unit in the east on the frontlines received the package the next day! The postal service is remarkably efficient here in Ukraine.
There are a lot of young people in Kyiv, especially a lot of young men. They are worried that, if they travel, they will be conscripted, so they stay in Kyiv. The stress level is high. People don’t sleep well. Families with kids or the elderly spend the night in the shelters to be safe, but it isn’t comfortable.
In Lviv, there are kids who were sent away from Kyiv and frontline towns to be safe. They are separated from their immediate families and grandparents. They can’t come back to Kyiv; and so, they are making a life in Lviv but continue to worry about their families near the frontlines. It’s very stressful for them--and their families. People are scared. Scared about the Russians. They know what is happening in the areas Russia occupies, and it is bad. Ukraine must hold the line and not let the Russians move forward.
JT: How has your connection to your heritage changed over time? changed?
I grew up in Michigan. My family left Western Ukraine during WWI and moved to Michigan, but I didn’t live in a diaspora community. My grandmother was a cook in one of the Polish-Ukrainian halls in Detroit, and I used to cook with her. Holidays were celebrated, but it wasn’t until this war that I really began to understand and enjoy cooking the traditional meals of my Ukrainian forebears. I realize now the importance of keeping our culture and traditions alive, and I express that through cooking.
JT: What is the biggest need among Ukrainian people?
Continue to pay attention to what is happening. Don’t let the war against the Ukrainian people fade away from your consciousness. Ukraine needs our support, and the Ukrainian soldiers and people need our help. If you’d like to support my good friend Maksym, an American veteran or Anatolii, please consider donating to Misha’s Angels and connect with us online:
https://linktr.ee/Mishasangels