November 18, 2024
Written by James Gaselee.
Charlie McGrath is going back to Ukraine in February 2025 with Paul Kelly. Please donate here: Just Giving Page
As with most things of importance, this began at Ascot when I mentioned to Charlie McGrath that if he needed someone to help him with one of his Ukraine trips then I would be keen. Now this may have happened towards the end of lunch; oh Pol Roger, how many of my decisions have you been responsible for! A few weeks later, Charlie got in touch and said we were on, he had identified a suitable freezer van and was already collecting medical and rehabilitation equipment to fill it. The next stage was to raise the money and thank you to all those who donated.
The Ukrainian charity being supported is called Mercy and Health Foundation which is run by an extraordinary Ukrainian doctor, Olexsandr Yatsyna, who is supporting numerous projects from the mental and physical rehabilitation of Ukrainian servicemen to the provision of water through drilling boreholes.
In late November with the freezer van loaded with medical equipment and dog food (more later); Charlie and I set off on our humanitarian trip to Ukraine, although delayed slightly by needing to jump start the van - not a good start. The rest of the drive through Europe proceeded smoothly and reasonably quickly thanks to the "rest is history" and Lynda LaPlante, although we lost count of the number of times Jane Tennyson checked her make up. On day 3, we approached the border crossing between Poland and Ukraine. All went reasonably well and we soon headed happily to the exit with the required voucher, alas, it was not stamped correctly so back we went. The customs official was not very impressed with our break for freedom and when she discovered the dog food, she went into overdrive! Thankfully, the amazing Daria from the Mercy and Health Charity soothed everything over and after three or so hours we headed for Lviv with the correct stamp.
Sadly, I did not see the beauty of this ancient city as we arrived late and departed early. The first impressions were, however, of a vibrant city with a lively bar scene. I think we halved the average age of the clientele in the one we visited. The only major difference in Ukrainian hotels that I could discern was that they all have shelters, indeed everywhere we went the shelters were pointed out. There was an overwhelming feeling of normality although a few more uniforms were in the streets than would be seen here but that was it.
So on to Kyiv. The roads were remarkably good but we didn't see much military activity except for bunkers on every bridge and the odd checkpoint. Shortly before Kyiv, we washed the van so that the Charity’s logos could be added. After watching the two incompetent, middle-aged, retired officers trying to work out what to do, the lady operating the facility took pity on us and did the majority of the work for us. I hasten to add, we did wield the scrubbing brushes but only when told to do so!
So, with the newly cleaned van we arrived at the Mercy and Health Charity's warehouse. After a very warm welcome and lunch, the van was whipped away to have the charity's logos put on. Charlie and I dropped our gear at the hotel before being taken on a rather long walk around Kyiv by the Charity’s founder, Olexsandr Yatsyna. We popped into the Intercontinental and could quite quickly see why it is the most popular hotel with foreign journalists - there is a huge shelter with a fully stocked bar!
We also walked through Maidan Square, where Olexsandr, who has been there in November 2013, talked through what had happened. There were also memorials to the fallen everywhere, but this is now the new normal in every town and village. As a juxtaposition, nearby were glossy adverts for high end products such as Givenchy and even a poster featuring Dwayne, the Rock, Johnson. We were then hosted by the team at a modern Ukrainian restaurant; I am now a convert to borscht and Charlie, now almost an honorary citizen, was in seventh heaven! It was delicious but also fascinating to hear their stories. The sadness of a daughter whose father lives in Crimea but believes Putin's lies so is unlikely to see him again was typical for the whole population.
The following morning we set off early to deliver the van to one of the frontline units in the Donbas. Firstly, we headed to Kharkiv, stopping on route at a small roadside cafe which served a delicious chocolate pancake cake. This itself was reassuring as they were expanding the premises and there was a constant flow of customers. Olexsandr then drove us through Kharkiv, pointing out the wanton destruction inflicted daily, indeed the day after our visit, a glide bomb killed 4 people in an apartment block. We then headed South and entered the territory liberated by the Ukrainian Army in 2022. Numerous villages were all but destroyed and almost lifeless, you could tell the occupied houses as their roots were covered in blue tarpaulin. Olexsandr had a meeting in Izyum, which is a hub for the Army, there were 4x4s everywhere with plenty from the UK. On that note, we also saw a Spartan and a 432 which kept both the Ex-Tin and the Ex-Mick happy! The amount of military activity definitely increased with a corresponding rise in the number of checkpoints. Again, the normality, we passed modern service stations on the road with bright neon signs.
At our first stop in Kramatorsk, we unloaded water pipes and bore-hole drilling equipment before continuing on to meet the unit we were delivering the van to. This was going to be near to Pokrovsk, which is currently the focus of quite a lot of Russian efforts. This meant an increase in the threat from Russian FPV drones which in turn meant that the jamming equipment to counter them also increases; Google maps was struggling! Finding the RV was therefore proving tricky and as we approached Pokrovsk, Olexsandr and the officers were getting a little concerned, so we turned around and took a more circuitous route to avoid the town which meant we were quite late. At this point, it is worth mentioning risk, Olexsandr is a busy man, so drives very fast whilst texting and map reading - we might have been safer going the short route!!
Finally, we met the two officers, Alex and Sergei, who were receiving the van and then followed them to their current base. It was fascinating to talk to them, they were realistic about the current situation and accepted that it was going to be difficult to hold the Russians back around Pokrovsk but were confident in final victory for Ukraine. The personal stories were also tragic, Sergei’s wife had left at the beginning of the war, moved on with her life and they were divorced. It will also be difficult after the war is over for the country to deal with those who return having not served their country in its hour of need. We only managed a very quick visit to the unit, a quick photograph and “egg banjo” and we were off to catch the sleeper train in Dnipro back to Kyiv after an epic drive of some 3500km overall. Sadly, the freezer van was needed almost immediately as the unit had suffered casualties that needed to be transferred to the nearest morgue.
What do I take from this brief sojourn into Ukraine? I was truly amazed how life outside the immediate frontlines continued as normal, roads were repaired, the bins emptied, bars and shops were busy. The people are, however, tired but their spirit remains undiminished. They really believe that they are the first defensive outwork for the civilized world in the conflict with Russia and now North Korea. So, although hugely grateful for all the support that they have received already, especially from the UK, they cannot understand the reluctance for the West to provide more. I suspect they are right; the Russian enemy is deeply cynical and although it's targeting appears random, they know the population is tired so a drone or missile each night is enough to continue to wear at one's nerves with almost constant alarms. On the frontlines the omni-presence of attack drones and mass infantry assaults are also making slow progress for the enemy. It is easy to be distracted by the Middle East, but Ukraine really does need our very best support.
Charlie McGrath will be going back out to Ukraine in early February 2025 with Paul Kelly. Please do support them with their ongoing fundraising. https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/charles-mcgrath-2