Lt. Commander who served in Iraq and Afghanistan leads Americans out of Ukraine

Project Dynamo founder Bryan Stern carrying the American passports of those in the group he evacuated this week 

A Lieutenant Commander who served in Iraq and Afghanistan for the Navy and Army led more Americans out of war-torn Ukraine today and is scheduled to return to the conflict zone to retrieve more this week. 

Bryan Stern has been leading Americans out of Ukrainian cities since last Friday, a day after Putin launched his first assault on Ukraine, with his donor-funded group Project Dynamo. 

Since then, he has taken out at least 60 people. Another three buses are scheduled to leave today. The groups drive for 18 hours from Kyiv and other cities to the Romanian border, where they then cross over and plan their next move. 

Photos and videos provided to DailyMail.com from the group show them leaving Kyiv, with Stern carrying a stack of American passports. 

They are taking quieter roads to Romania to try to avoid becoming a target on the road for Russian airstrikes. 

The group has received 2,000 requests for evacuation since Russia invaded last week. 

That number includes several hundred American citizens and their families, but it also includes foreigners who have  no way of getting out on their own. 

In Ukraine, cars are nearly impossible to come by let alone gas. Trains are packed and often stalled or canceled at the last minute. 

The International Red Cross estimates that 500,000 people have already fled the country to avoid the war, and that hundreds of thousands more may also go. 

Americans were among those who were evacuated from Ukraine by Project Dynamo today. The group has now evacuated six bus-loads of people 

 Some of those waiting to be rescued on Tuesday had to shelter during an airstrike, according to the group organizers. They will now drive 18 hours to the Romanian border

The group is also taking requests from non-Americans who need help getting out of the war-torn country

Once the group reaches the border in Romania, they will have to make their own arrangements for getting back to America

As they drove through Ukraine on Monday, the group observed Ukrainians trying to fortify their homes and businesses with sandbags

The group now has an 18-hour drive ahead of them to reach the Romanian border, then they must find their own way back to the US – if they want to 

Stern filmed an airstrike as he and the group drove out of Kyiv earlier this week on one of their six evacuations  

Stern with some of the group as they made their way out of Ukraine yesterday. He said he could  not watch helplessly as Americans needed help in the region 

The latest group of American evacuees includes an Alabama pastor, dogs and cats. In some of the videos, Stern tries to talk over air raid sirens. 

Once the groups get to the border, they must try to make their own way back to the US or to other European countries. 

It’s unclear what all were doing in the region when the fighting broke out. There were thought to have been 23,000 Americans living in Ukraine.

‘We’re working to rescue people as quickly as possible and will have several more busloads out in the coming hours,” said James Judge, a spokesman for Project DYNAMO. 

‘Attacks by Russian forces have caused delays to transportation routes, and civilians who are waiting to be rescued have had to shelter during those attacks. 

‘We continue to conduct and plan rescue operations in between these attacks, while we have also flown in additional team members to setup reception points in neighboring countries.’ 

Stern and his group rely on donations, which can be made on their website found here.