CHIȘINĂU, Moldova — A man from Wyoming County is taking matters into his own hands. He's now roaming through a country that could be Russia's next target, helping refugees miles from the Ukrainian border.
He's doing it all on his own.
Richard Jackson grew up in Factoryville and served more than 20 years in the military.
Watching the Russian attacks from afar, the veteran decided to act.
"All the folks in the U.S. were in the U.S. and supporting stuff going on here, but not necessarily on the ground," Jackson said. "I was contemplating it for a while, and I finally just said, 'I have to do this now.'"
Jackson boarded a flight to Turkey before busing through Romania and into Moldova's capital city, Chisinau.
It's where nearly 100,000 Ukrainian refugees have settled; their lives were destroyed.
"All of a sudden, war comes in, your house is blown up, you have zero," he said. "You have the clothes on your back, you're in a vehicle, and you're going to the border."
Many of them came to Moldexpo, an immigrant processing facility near the Ukrainian border.
Here, Jackson started giving away medical supplies, toiletries, and the 50 pounds of clothing he brought for refugees.
"You'd never know that an hour and a half from here, there's a war going on," Jackson said.
While the streets of Chisinau remain peaceful, the threat of Russian attacks looms. In a tweet, a Ukrainian Presidential Advisor warned, "if Ukraine falls tomorrow, Russian troops will be at Chisinau's gates."
Already, three incidents have been reported in Moldova, including an explosion at the Ministry of State Security in Tiraspol. That's the city Jackson said he's heading to next.
"Every Moldovan that I've spoken to is ready for Russian invasion," Jackson said. "They think that this whole thing will probably be about a five-year war."
Even in dangerous territory, Jackson is ready to use his military expertise to help those in need.
"This thing is horrible that we're going through, and if we don't stop it now or put an effort into stopping it now, it's just going to get worse," he said.
Jackson said he doesn't know how long he's going to stay in the region.
He bought a one-way ticket and is still planning his next moves. He's paying for all of this out of his own pocket.
See more videos on our area’s connection to the Crisis in Ukraine.