Parcels to Ukraine
Lviv. Day 1
Lviv, as always, becomes the first landing point. Routine work that is just as important as reaching the farthest destination.
We arrive in Ukraine's westernmost city at around 2am, and are kept awake by a blaring air raid siren and the onset of a Shahed attack. The sky is dissected by floodlights and the air is shaken by the barely audible rattle of machine guns.
I have to get up early, and sleep is essential, so I fall asleep quite quickly. Isn't it scary? No. Even when I find out in the morning about the destroyed apartment building and the dead people. I just curse and go to reload the cargo for the Lviv warehouse. I let the three most important members of the mission go home, because there are a few cars left in Lviv.
The warehouse is a few kilometres from Lviv and takes an hour to reach. We unload camouflage nets, canned goods, materials for snipers' clothing. Boxes, boxes...
Back at the hotel, I escort the first group to Kyiv, and go elsewhere with the others. I entrust the unloading in Kyiv to Alexey, a Latvian who is travelling with the convoy.
Poltava. Day 4
When the mission to Ukraine is mentioned in public, Linas Jakas, a volunteer as always, is entrusted to take parcels to the front.
James Meidus brings five wheels for an SUV. This is how the loads to Poltava slowly accumulate.
The third part of the shipment comes from a Ukrainian woman from Kaunas. „Only“ 9 boxes, organised together with Caritas. After an hour, she asks if she can go together. Yes, why not, especially as one of the cars will be driven by her compatriot Viktorija. A small parcel was given to her mother by her brother's friend.
This is my first time in Poltava with Lena. We met her in Kyiv, at her warehouse and office on Market Street, which is still full of people on a Saturday afternoon.
Lena's brother at the front needs wheels. She's in a hurry, just like us, because her daughter has a performance at an event and we have Kharkiv to go to. In fact, the Russians recently attacked her daughter's school, before the children could go into hiding. The shelling in Poltava is constant...
Kharkiv. Fifth day
We are taking some parcels to Kharkiv for the Lithuanians fighting there, so we are heading straight from Poltava not to the hotel where the Kabas exploded, but to the border with Russia.
We delivered a pick-up truck to Raimonds a month ago, and we're just now getting off-road tyres. They were donated by my cousin's son Simas. The car has been on the front line for a month now and has been in a difficult situation on more than one occasion. Just after we left, it has pulled seven soldiers out of their positions.
Raimond points out where he is based and we struggle to find his location because the GPS signal is completely suppressed in and around Kharkiv. Road signs point in the direction of Belgorod and we stop briefly at a sign.
The village where Raimondas lives has few locals, but a lot of foreigners from the far corners of the world. It is the base of the International Legion, which is not at all like the one in the cinema.
After getting lost for a while, we find his house, the car is parked under a tree canopy to avoid being seen by reconnaissance drones. A sign by the door says „occupied“ and gives a phone number. We hide our car, too, and hurry to unload. There's no coffee to drink and no electricity to put the kettle on.
We talk, we look at his new weapons - it takes some getting used to. A group photo and warm hugs, because we have to hurry, another Lithuanian is waiting for us.
When we spot the place where the soldier Albert, called Dantist, is waiting for us, we can see that he is only a few kilometres away from Raimundo. At the checkpoint, the soldiers ask a lot of questions, warn us about the dangers and ask if we have helmets and armoured vests.
In the danger zone, despite the enormous threat, people walk the streets and children play. Suicide bombers or „jduns“ (those waiting for the occupier)?
After crossing the blown-up bridge, we find Albert waiting for us. He is waiting under the roof of the bus stop, because there are drones everywhere and we would be a very visible target in the open. The Russians are a few kilometres away...
We have a short chat with the soldier, hand over the gifts and hurry to leave the danger zone.
Suburb of Kharkiv. Sixth day
When I go to Ukraine, I always get requests for parcels to be delivered. They are varied and I never refuse to take them. People also ask me to take their cars away, which creates convoys.
In Utena, we pick up two vehicles from Gediminas to drive to Ukraine, and on the way we pick up a shipment from Ramūnas, a shooter, for Ukrainian drone pilots.
He meets me at the workplace, the windscreen of his car smashed. We tried drones yesterday, he says, and one of them hit him. Two boxes of drone parts need to be taken to Kharkiv.
We talk to Ramūnas about threats and national defence, and he has a sober assessment of the situation.
On Saturday, I forget to look up the location of Abdul the drone, who is waiting for Ramunas' shipment. It's terribly difficult to find the road in Kharkiv, because the GPS signal only occasionally gets through the REBs, so I often have to stop and ask for directions. We somehow find Abdullah's house, where he works and lives with his wife and four-year-old son. He works, as he says, 24/7, because there are soldiers on the road all the time and the work never stops. He also has a worker. When asked if there is anything missing, he says: not anymore, because you have brought everything you need. In the workshop, six 3D printers produce parts for drones, and there are a bunch of drones outside, ready for the front.
Kramatorskas. Donetsk region. Sixth day
When I leave Kharkiv, I immediately call Jana, who is in charge of the Carthaginians fighting in the International Legion, and tell her what time we will be at the entrance to the Donetsk region. She tells us that her husband Aslan and his friends will meet us.
He is from Sakartvel, so I am bringing him a special gift - the flag of free Ichkeria.
The road winds through ruined villages and towns, with roadside signs warning of mines all around. The only vehicles around are military vehicles...
We don't stop anywhere, we don't have much time.
We arrive at the Donetsk district boundary marker early, which gives us time to take photos and talk to the soldiers heading to the front. Traditionally, everyone signs the marker, and it has long been a symbol of the demarcation of the most dangerous war zone.
The Kartvelians follow us through the blockades, stopping only in Kramatorsk, where we pick up Jan and go to film a thank-you to the sponsors. This is such a necessary job, because people want to see the end result, and this is our report to them. Everything is on the run, because there is a war going on, and if you lose your guard, you can die.
The cars are delivered and we drive on to Druzhkivka to hand over the last load. Aslan and Jana accompany us there.
Druzhkivka, Donetsk region. Sixth day
One of the 3D printers and materials donated by Roland is being handed over to the soldiers stationed near Chasiv Yar.
While chatting with the bitter cherries, we pick ripe and very sweet cherries. We also listen to the Russian chiaroscuro coming from the neighbouring house. It's not worth confronting the locals as there are many separatists/collaborators around. When the Russians take over new settlements, they are eager to feed the occupiers, and they are killed without mercy by those who fight the enemy
Simple. Wartime laws apply to everyone.
He has been a commander in the army since 2011 and in Donbas since 2014. All weapons are trophy weapons. There is too little of everything.
Pakrovsk. Donetsk region. Sixth day
I met Mykola a year and a half ago in Kiev, when we gave him an anti-drone rifle. Then he told me about the personnel problems and losses in his battalion. He was then the battalion commander of the 59th Brigade, which was holding the front line near Avdiivka. It is a long time since the beginning of the large-scale invasion. He has been in the military since 2014.
I already knew a few weeks ago that I would be going that way, so I offered to bring the essentials to his soldiers. No matter, he said, we will meet for a couple of minutes and that will be fine, we have everything, except for rations, which the drone operators need so much when they go on a mission. There are also mortar mines, but we cannot bring those weapons. No matter, if it is only on the way, we will definitely meet.
I get food rations and assure them that we will be there, because the road home will still go through Pakrovsk. They said +, I'll meet you in Pakrovsk.
In Kramatorsk, we roll around like caterpillars, the soldiers escort us with our self-delivered car to nearby Druzhkivka, and when we've unloaded, we write to Mykola: in an hour, we'll be in Pakrovsk.
The town is no different from any other in the region, the same bombed-out houses and public infrastructure, the same endless convoys of troop or volunteer transport. We stop near the Orthodox church under a dense canopy of trees - it is safer that way, because there are certainly fire-correction drones hovering in the sky invisible to the eye.
Vehicles driven exclusively by soldiers include several taxis, and children wander around the town square. It is strange that they are still here.
We pop into perhaps the only café for a quick bite to eat while waiting for our friend, who is surprisingly punctual. We talk about the war, there are no other topics here. He is no longer a battalion sergeant, but a brigade sergeant, and he has 8 400 people under his command - 12 battalions. Four battalions have been completely destroyed.
They warn you that you should never stay here, and that it is safest to spend the night in Pavlograd at least. We run to reload - the sergeant has not arrived alone. Along with the food, we hand over two large packs of Lithuanian honey. We say goodbye and quickly leave Pavrovsk.
