Day 1
Everyone accounted for at the barn and introductions made and briefing over, we head for Dover and our last driver, Grant. The weather is not welcoming and the sea looks like it’s been irritated – badly! Ferry after ferry is cancelled. We sit in the cafe, drink coffee and wait – and wait. Nearly five hours later, a ferry boards; not ours, but hey! It’s a ride to France. The crossing is remarkably composed bearing in mind the weather and despite the delays, we reach our hotel somewhere outside Antwerp in time for a beer before bed.
Day 2
A routine day and driving on roads without speed limits! Not that it affected us greatly, pootling along at 65! Outside Cottbus, hotel staff waited for us to arrive – late – and provided schnitzels measured in acres and plenty of beer.
Day 3
An epic day kicked off at 05:30 and the most mesmerising sunrise, only to be partially eclipsed, by Brooke and Mark’s black ice dance and a close call with a flying Mercedes, we arrived at the border at Krakovets at 15:30. Here we encountered an almost empty border crossing; it was quiet – too quiet! Still, never look a gift horse etc – we rolled through in record time without the merest eyebrow being raised at our paperwork let alone a vehicle checked. Remarkable! Note for later: hit the border crossing on a Thursday in time for tea!After an enlightening meeting with Martin, the aid worker, who shared half an hour’s worth of advice and observation, we headed in to Lviv and a splendid dinner at our hotel with beverages accompanying. It’s worth pointing out to anyone not familiar with the Ukraine Freedom Company that no donated funds were used in the procurement of said dinners or drinks. All paid for out of volunteers’ pockets. We were touched at the end of the evening by a note from the barman which read: “We closed an hour ago. We stayed on for you because we like you”.
Day 4
We had an early start to find a warehouse to drop our orphanage donations. Having arrived at the specified location which looked decidedly unpromising, we wandered around looking for clues until David accosted a rather anxious looking resident setting out on the school run. She wasn’t to be thwarted and knocked on a neighbour’s door who appeared in her dressing gown, was fully briefed as to our plight, got on the phone and pointed us to the right building. Halyna, our contact, and friend pitched up shortly after. Ukrainian solution-focused teamwork! After 40 minutes of unloading, early morning chocolates and coffee and lots of photos, Bravo company (Andy, Rich, Mike and Grant) set off for Dnipro leaving Alpha (Brooke, Mark, Ants and David) to head to Kyiv.
Bravo
After dropping off the allocated aid at the orphanage warehouse in Lviv, the Bravo team parted from the Alpha team and headed off east in their 2 vehicles (Mitsibushi L200 and Isuzi Trooper). On board they carried the remaining supplies all earmarked for handover to the intended front-line recipients in Dnipro, together with the 2 vehicles. Leg one of the journey was to Uman, some 7.5 hours driving time distant. The team overnighted there.
Day 5
After breakfast the team headed off on the final planned drive of the Bravo’s convoy trip. A projected drive of some 5.5 hours would take them to the ‘gateway to the front-line’ hub city of Dnipro. This iconic, and oft targeted city since the Russian invasion, of about 1 million people, had previously been visited by three of the Bravo team members, including Andy who had spent five days/four nights there on his first convoy with UFC in 2023, following the breakdown of one of the convoy’s two vehicles. Timings for the journey were predicated on meeting our Ukrainian Army recipients at the main railway station in Dnipro, at 1700. After departure from Uman at 08:45, the journey unfolded largely as planned despite some very adverse wet and foggy weather in the latter parts.
The team arrived at their hotel on the banks of the Dnipro River, for the overnight stay at 15:00 to be met by Max, our local Ukrainian long-standing friend of UFC. In his usual way Max greeted the team, chatted and enjoyed refreshments with them, and imparted an array of inside thoughts and facts about the on-going war. Clearly fatigued by 3 years of war, or should we say now 10yrs and his significant contribution to it, he nevertheless again showed his resilience, fortitude and enduring humour! Our Ukrainian Army recipients arrived at the hotel, after a change of plan to not meet at the railway station, just after 17:00. The group of six, all from the Special Forces Group based in the Zaporizhzhia region, were led by an engaging, English-speaking officer who wasted little time in offering heartfelt thanks to the team for bringing their aid to Dnipro. He explained that his group were all from a specialist sniper unit that had been front-line based since the start of the war. He spoke with seemingly well-founded pride about the operational achievements of his unit. He was also humble in stating that they had not had anyone killed since the start of the campaign. He explained that one of the vehicles was earmarked to be used for the insertion and extraction of his sniper teams and the other for medical purposes. Nevertheless, medical staff integral to his unit had been busy in dealing with regular casualties. Indeed present amongst his group for the ‘pick-up’ was a female medic of the unit.
She spoke to Mike, a retired GP , and explained her role in front line training, and showed multiple photos of this in mock-up trenches. Useful guidance as to what is much needed on the cutting edge was gained, despite the language difficulties. The request for more detailed feedback, of our supplied medical kit was made through Martin, our new Lviv contact.
Before departing, the commander of the group was effusive in inviting the Bravo team, individually or collectively, to visit his unit on the front-line to see how they operate, to fire some of their weapons (on a range, not at the Russians!) and to further cement the emerging bond between his snipers/medical team and UFC. Andy advised him that certain wives may have to be consulted first, before this initiative was realised! Effusive with gratitude they headed off in what were our vehicles, now theirs.
The Bravo team headed back in to their hotel for a very convivial evening, before a largely sleepless night due the booming disco immediately below our rooms!
Day 6
Max collected the team at 06:00from their hotel and took them, via a coffee stop, to the main Dnipro railway station for their six hour train trip back to Kyiv to reunite with the Alpha team, for their collective return to the UK.
Alpha
Meanwhile, Alpha, (still on day 5) headed to Kyiv arriving at the hotel at 16:30 after a largely uneventful journey.
All hands to deliver three large boxes of aid to the nearest Nova Poshta was followed by a rendezvous at another Kyiv hotel to meet soldiers from frontline regiments to hand over the two vehicles and aid. After much handshaking, flag signing, group photo-ing and manly hugging, Alpha was free to explore Kyiv while David had a meeting with another aid worker with a view to future cooperative work.
Alpha walked for the rest of the day visiting various sites including St. Sophia’s Cathedral (UNESCO); St. Michael’s Cathedral; The Wall (with thousands of faces of the fallen memorialised in photographs placed by loved ones) and the memorial square with burnt out vehicles which included photographs from 1940 to compare with 2022 – Humbling and filled with pathos, reminding us that we seem incapable of learning from the past. Next to Maidan with its thousands of flags, again each one marking the fall of a loved one. Heroes all.
After lunch, the team walked under the fractured arch, built to celebrate unity between Russia and Ukraine, now with a painted black crack.
The evening walk back to the hotel took us past burned out remains of a building struck earlier in the week. The acrid stench of the aftermath of fire and the grating rasp of broken glass being swept up by residents as we passed by reminded us of the daily horrors that so many Ukrainians live with.
Day 7
David and Ants had another meeting with a Kyiv based entrepreneur developing mental health software to help with PTSD, a colossal issue in Ukraine now, let alone in the years to come. Afterwards, with the arrival of Bravo, the whole team headed for the centre for lunch and an opportunity for Bravo to pay their respects in Maidan.
The train from Kyiv to Lviv was uneventful if not altogether restful and the crossing and journey to Krakov was straightforward – for most! Some decided that the Krakov suburbs would be a good place to alight the train – and changed their minds too late! A reunion at Krakov airport later, was followed by an uneventful flight all wrapped up with midnight goodbyes at Bristol airport.
A very successful trip in terms of the delivery of aid and vehicles to various locations and a great team.