Ukraine's veterans held the line. Help them come home whole.

We record their stories, help them recover, and bring them to tell their story in person. Your gift never buys weapons.

Stand with them Our story
Ukrainian veterans on the course, one with a prosthetic leg, at a Borderlands rehabilitation event The U.S.–Ukraine Freedom Summit on stage A Ukrainian veteran

Our work now

In November 2026, four Ukrainian veterans travel to Dallas.

We didn’t wait for donations: the founding team paid about $13,000 of its own money so they could go. Your gift replaces it and carries the work on to the Summit in March.

Every cost is listed, from the road to the Polish border to the visa fee. After the trip, the same page carries the report.

Ukrainian veterans on the golf course

Dallas, Texas · November 16–19, 2026

Help with the Dallas trip and the Summit in March

Flights, visas, four nights and coaching, itemized to the dollar. Pick the piece you want to cover.

See every cost
The Ukrainian delegation at Brdo, Slovenia, October 2026

Slovenia · October 7–11, 2026

Ukrainian veterans in Slovenia: the results

Two Ukrainian veterans took part in golf and rehabilitation in Ljubljana and Brdo. See how it went and where the money went.

See the results
The Ukraine Freedom Summit on stage

Dallas, Texas · March 15–18, 2027

The Ukraine Freedom Summit comes to Dallas

After London in 2025, the Summit and its veterans’ golf tournament come to Texas in March 2027.

About the Summit

Ukraine's veterans will carry this war for decades. We make sure they are recorded, recovered and heard.

Borderlands began by recording this war in the words of the people who fought it, with their names, on the record. That record still matters. So do the men and women in it: we help them recover, and we bring them to meet the people who can stand by them.

Samuel P.N. Cook, founder of the Borderlands Foundation

The founder

"I came to Ukraine to record one war. I found three million people whose stories no one was writing down."

Samuel Cook is a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army cavalry officer who served in Iraq under H.R. McMaster, taught Russian military history, and built a career teaching the world to tell better stories. He moved to Kyiv in 2018. When the full-scale invasion came in February 2022, he founded Borderlands two days later — and started recording.

Samuel P.N. Cook
Founder & president, Borderlands Foundation
Read the full story
2022
a U.S. 501(c)(3) since March 2022. Our IRS filings are public: check them yourself.

What we do

Five ways your gift helps

Each program serves the same people: the veterans and their families.

Historical archive

We write the record.

Ukraine Military History Institute

Podcasts, lectures, and a growing interview archive preserving 1,000 years of Ukrainian military history — and the hard-won lessons of the war being fought right now.

Active Visit the Institute
Graduates of a Borderlands training program in Kyiv

We keep them whole.

Center for Traumatic Stress

The first systematic platform in Ukraine built to help veterans and their families recover from the psychological cost of war — for an estimated three million who will need it.

Building Visit the Center
The U.S.–Ukraine Freedom Summit on stage

We bring them to the people who can help.

U.S.–Ukraine Freedom Summit

A gathering of the two greatest warrior communities in the world — to share what they've learned and build lasting ties between American and Ukrainian veterans.

March 2027 Visit the Summit
Ukrainian veterans at a rehabilitation event

We help them come home whole.

Veteran rehabilitation

We bring Ukrainian veterans to charity golf tournaments abroad — through sport, reintegration, and the connections made on the course — turning shared experience into lasting relationships.

Active Learn more
The Ukrainian delegation lined up at Brdo, Slovenia, in front of the flags

We take them there.

Veteran trips

We bring Ukrainian veterans abroad to compete, recover and tell their own story: Slovenia in October 2026, Dallas in November 2026, and the Ukraine Freedom Summit in Dallas in March 2027. Every cost is published.

See the trips

Voices

People who know what's at stake

"
Sam Cook knows the country, its leaders, and the reality on the ground. His relationships, knowledge, and expertise have been invaluable.
General David Petraeus
Gen. (Ret.) David Petraeus
Former Director, CIA
"
Sam and his team led us to a deeper understanding of what's happening on the ground — not just what's reported in the headlines. A trusted partner for us in Ukraine.
Suzanne Kelly
Suzanne Kelly
CEO, The Cipher Brief

From the podcast

The war, told by the people who lived it

The Ukraine Military History Podcast brings operational detail and historical context to the war, straight from the soldiers and scholars who understand it best.

Episode 7 cover

Episode 7 · July 9, 2026

The making of a Marine: Ievgen Malik and the last stand at Mariupol

Ukrainian Marine Ievgen Malik on growing up in Poltava, his decision to enlist in 2018, and the brutal opening days of the siege of Mariupol in February 2022.

MariupolMarines36th Brigade
Watch & read
Episode 1 cover

Episode 1 · June 11, 2026

Why Ukraine's military history matters

Sam Cook and Rob Lee on why Ukraine's military past is essential to understanding today's frontline — from tracking the Russian buildup to the lessons reshaping modern warfare.

Military historyIntelligenceStrategy
Watch & read
All episodes