Introduction
On the morning of November 27, we got a text from our partner organization, Lawyers’ Move, asking whether we could procure a four-wheel-drive VW T5 van for them within the next two weeks. They could contribute to the financing, as they were working with a sponsor who is willing to pay for a series of future conversions into casualty evacuation vehicles. This would be a kind of “pilot project.” Our next planned transport is not scheduled until the end of January 2025. We had just started searching for the right vehicles and recruiting drivers. The unit to receive the casevac was already on our waiting list.
No sooner said than done. Even before we had bought the van, our dear colleague Elena in Kyiv was bought us the train tickets for the return journey to make sure we could get spaces. The timing, in the middle of the year-end business, was certainly not ideal, but we planned a “weekend transport” from Friday to Monday.
The van and preparations
That Friday, Michael and Dave went to check out a promising T5 van in the morning, but contrary to what the ad claimed, it was only two-wheel drive. Annette looked for other T5s at the same time, so that Michael and Dave then could go to view and test drive another one in the afternoon, one that we ultimately bought. Half of the purchase price was covered by Lawyers’ Move. It had a good engine, but summer tires, three full rows of seats and lots of windows – not exactly what was needed for a “casevac,” but it would prove useful later on.
Sasha, our friend and lawyer who with his team is currently organizing the nomination process for appointees to the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, had passed on a request from the paramedic Olena. She needed a special infusion solution that helps to stabilize wounded people with high blood loss. Kati was able to obtain it from the town pharmacy in Walldorf. Thank you very much!
From then on, everything happened very quickly: Michael made travel arrangements, Annette did a favor for the “Sunflower Coalition,” another charity, and picked up 14 boxes with warm clothes and power banks from Frankfurt that Sunday to take to Kyiv for another organization. When Michael had winter tires mounted, the garage accepted the aluminum rims and worn summer tire as payment, since they are not needed anyway. On Wednesday, Kati was able to collect the boxes of infusion solution from the pharmacy and load them into the car with Annette. Lawyers’ Move prepared the customs document for the vehicle and the aid organization “Zminiy Island” prepared the customs document for the boxes. To be on the safe side, Annette checked the contents of the boxes again in detail and Nadia from Lawyers’ Move confirmed that the customs document for the cargo was correct.
Friday, December 9
We had planned even less time for this delivery than for the last. We needed to get to Kyiv and back in four days. Michael started at 04:00, met Annette at 04:30, then we loaded the vehicle and headed east. The journey to the German-Polish border was quick and uneventful. In record time, we arrived at our rest stop directly behind the German-Polish border at 10:30, got sandwiches and jumped back into the car.
However, there were terrible traffic jams in Poland, which delayed our onward journey by over two and a half hours, so we didn’t arrive at the customs agency in Radymno until after 7pm. Our fleeting an bold idea to drive on to Lviv that evening, which had occurred to us during the easy part of the drive, was dashed. At dinner, we met other volunteers from Germany from two different organizations. We got talking to one group – from St. Augustin. They focus on humanitarian aid and were in the process of transporting a local bus and a truck with donated clothing and gifts to an orphanage in Ukraine. As always, our EU export certificate was issued quickly, and after a quick dinner, we got to bed early – only to set off again at 04:30 the next day.
Saturday, December 10
As on the last trip, the destination on the second day was once again Kyiv. Customs clearance, completely in the dark of the wee hours, was, as always, slightly different than on previous trips in terms of the individual steps, but ultimately went smoothly. The onward journey to Kyiv was also smooth, no bad weather, no speeding drivers, but a quick journey without much traffic, indeed almost relaxed.
We arrived in Kyiv at 2:30 p.m., unexpectedly early – but still after around ten hours of driving and border crossing formalities.
At the “Hub,” the headquarters of Lawyers Move, we were greeted by our friends Ruslan and Sasha, and the volunteer Monte came to collect the boxes and send them to the Donbas via Nova Poshta. We handed over the vehicle to Ruslan, the infusion solution to Sasha and then had time to sit down with Sasha for a moment in a bookstore-café. There was a blackout and no generator. Electric candles – it seemed almost romantic. Sasha is married, has a young son, Ostap, and is currently exempt from the draft because of his work for the Constitutional Court. He is not sure how long this exemption will last. When asked how he is dealing with this situation, he replied matter-of-factly that what will happen, will happen, and he will just go to the front if required. In general, we are always impressed by how people deal with the current situation. Sasha told us that they live on one of the upper floors of a high-rise building, and when a critical air-raid alert goes off at night, he and Ostap go down the stairs ten floors to the basement and then back up again once the all-clear has been given. At an age when children here in Germany are learning the words for pacifier and bunny, Ostap imitates the sounds of missiles anti-aircraft guns.
In the evening, Ruslan and Nadia invited us for a pizza at Ruslan’s place. Initially, there was only emergency lighting there, too, until the electricity came on again at some point. Ruslan told us that he could use the “luxury equipment” of the VW T5. In exchange for the seats, and the side and rear doors with windows, he received ones without windows as well as a cash payment from someone else who could use our parts.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has been subjected to massive Russian drone and missile attacks aimed specifically at the energy supply. Power plants are being destroyed and scheduled blackouts occur all over Kyiv in order to relieve the system. It works, and people – including Sasha – are much more relaxed about this winter. Unlike in Germany, there are no expressions of concern in Ukraine itself about the cold and dark months ahead. People explain that they gained experience in previous winters and are now much better prepared. The Ukrainian word “незламний” (indestructible) describes this mentality much more tangibly and aptly than the detached term “resilient.”
During the night, shortly before midnight—of course—there was an air-raid alert, but it “only” required us to go into the hallway to put two walls between ourselves and the outside world.
Sunday, December 11
On Sunday morning, we met up with Ruslan and Nadia for breakfast and then went for a long walk with Ruslan through Kyiv. On St. Sophia’s Square there is a tall, decorated Christmas tree in front of which people take photos of themselves, their families and friends, a sign of defiance and of not letting things get you down.
In the early afternoon, Anna, the Managing Director of SAP Ukraine, had invited us to a meeting in a restaurant right next to St. Sophia’s Cathedral. The SAP colleagues were very interested in our view of the political situation in Germany, with the breakup of the governing coalition and the upcoming new elections. The question of who will determine future foreign policy is being watched closely in Ukraine. Our colleagues also wanted to know our assessment of the use of the “Oreshnik” medium-range missile, which Russia fired at Dnipro. The German press repeatedly emphasized that it should be taken seriously as a threat, as it is a nuclear-capable missile. The view of our Ukrainian colleagues was surprising and sober: they thought the attack was a show to intimidate Europeans. Previously deployed missiles could also be equipped with nuclear warheads, and Russia had used this missile, which had caused less damage than other missiles, to stoke fear in Western countries. It is telling that people outside Ukraine are more afraid than the Ukrainians themselves.
We met Mariia in the evening. She had invited us to her home for some delicious home-cooked borscht. We had a long, intensive conversation about her spin-off charitable organization specializing purely in humanitarian work. We will be working with both organizations in the future: With Lawyers’ Move and with Ukraine Frontline Hospitals.
Ruslan took us to the train station in the evening. The train left for Poland on time at 22:14.
Monday, December 12
As on previous trips, the last night and the following day of the transport taken up with travel. On the night train to the border, we experienced the usual border inspections, with both backpacks being searched again for “war souvenirs,” but ultimately unspectacular. Only Michael’s heavy ratchet for lug nuts needed some explanation on the Polish side. Annette had caught a nasty cold on the way and felt like she was in “stand-by” mode all through Monday. Sleep, wake up, change trains, go back to sleep.
Our flight left Kraków a little late, and Hansi Huber picked us up in Frankfurt in the middle of the night and took us home. Thank you very much, Hansi!
Up next
The VW T5 Transporter from our October trip is now almost fully converted and will be handed over to the recipients by Lawyers’ Move next weekend. The conversion of the VW T5 we just delivered has already begun.
We are now actively fundraising to finance the vehicles for the next transport at the end of January 2025.
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