WASHINGTON — Creed Burleson checked into the Radisson Blu in Kyiv on Feb. 22 with big plans. He would set up a new website design business in Ukraine over the coming days, stopping by the bank and submitting paperwork to establish the new company with local authorities.
Instead, Burleson, 62, an Army veteran from Marion in North Carolina, ended up in the hotel’s garage-turned-bunker two days later as Russia’s bombardment began. “There was no way out because the trains were so packed,” he told McClatchy.
The sounds of air raid sirens were constant as Burleson searched for an escape. At that point, in the early days of the war, the extent of Russia’s capabilities and its penetration of the capital weren’t clear. But Burleson did not believe that time was on his side.
