NEBRASKA -- One Ukrainanian is touring the U.S., stopping in Nebraska, to share how farmers in Ukraine are hit by the Russian invasion.

Roman Grynyshyn has been working in the ag industry in Ukraine for years. Born in the northwest area of the country, he started a company in 2017 to connect Ukraine's ag-economy to new technologies and fertility programs. 

In February, Grynyshyn was supposed to travel to Costa Rica with other farmers. Instead of going to the airport, though, he went into hiding -- because Russia had invaded. A few days later, Grynyshyn escaped with his family to Poland. 

He started to call contacts in an effort to find who in Ukraine needed financial donations the most. During that process, he realized how farmers in Ukraine had been devastated. 

His farming friends explained their houses and yards were destroyed. Often, equipment was burned -- after some of the families had spent decades to purchase a tractor. Their fields were now full of mines, so that winter crops could not be harvested. Elevators had been strategically targeted so that only the most important parts -- like sensors -- did not work. John Deere monitors were stolen. Livestock animals were likewise taken, slaughtered, or had diesel poured over them. 

Particularly graphic, Grynyshyn knew of a starving family that resorted to eating a Yorkshire terrier. 

But the traumatic impact is more than just on individual farmers. It's to the economy.

Grynyshyn explained many farmers will not be able to plant in the spring. The nation's number one export, sunflower oil, (Ukraine exports nearly half of the world stock) is now in shortage. 

Still, he said, the majority of his contact are trying to plant -- because otherwise, people may starve. 

"It's not Ukraine who will go hungry, but the people in Somalia and Egypt that rely on these exports," Grynyshyn said. 

So far, Grynyshyn has raised $11,000 for farmers in Ukraine to restart their businesses. Working in Washington State currently, Grynyshyn hopes to partner with a larger agriculture company to make a difference.