Supporting Ukraine - One more truck towards victory (part 4&5)
Haven't read part 1-3 yet? Here:
Part 1:
https://thelittlewhiskyshop.co.uk/blogs/news/supporting-ukraine-two-weeks-in-ukraine-january-2025-part-1
Parts 2 and 3:
https://thelittlewhiskyshop.co.uk/blogs/news/supporting-ukraine
Part Four - Life goes on and there is humour to be found despite the war
One of the consequences of staying in Ukraine was the nightly sleep deprivation. The haunting wail of air raid sirens are now a familiar part of everyday life in Ukraine, and while those from abroad may assume this sound sends everyone running to a shelter, this is far from the case. Rather than run to the nearest shelter, the first thing most people in Ukraine do when they hear an air raid siren is to check Telegram or the warning received on the app, for more precise information.
Not all air raid sirens sound actual danger and one type of alert has become a real frustration during the war. The Russian MiG-31 is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that can carry Kinzhal ballistic missiles. These missiles travel at very high speeds and have a long range. Every time a MiG-31 takes off from a Russian military base near Ukraine, an air raid alert is issued across the entire country, sometimes lasting for hours. The aircraft may not even be armed but the pure fact one is getting airborne means an alert must be sounded and, in most cases, there is no corresponding Russian missile attack. However, Putin’s forces have achieved one of their goals of terrorising the Ukrainian population night after night after night, all through the night. Despite this life goes on as normally as possible.
Early in the war, the Ukrainians took great effort to try to protect their country’s heritage by sandbagging up statues in the fear that the Russian missiles would get through and destroy them. As it became clear that the air defences were able to protect the capital the Ukrainians started to uncover these. This allowed the Ukrainian humour to come alive.
Close to the The Wall of Remembrance, in the square outside St Michael’s Cathedral, is a monument to Princess Olha. Having had the sandbags protecting her removed she is still protected with an improvised bullet proof vest that some wag has adorned her with.
Early on in the war the news covered items such as the Ukrainian farmers towing abandoned and captured Russian tanks. Ukraine's farmers now have the fifth-largest army in Europe as goes a dark joke, a reference to all the captured Russian military equipment they have towed off the battlefield. This humour, and a tribute to these farmers, is captured in one of the house estates in Kyiv as a flower planter.
There is a famous landmark in Kyiv called the “People’s Friendship Arch”. This was gifted to Ukraine by the Soviet government in 1982 as a symbol of the relationship between the Russia and Ukraine. The arch had a crack painted on it in 2018 by activists and the crack remains a powerful reminder of the ongoing conflict and the struggle for Ukrainian independence and the massive crack in the friendship that used to exist. In 2022, it also had the statue called 'friendship of two peoples' removed from beneath it.
The humour and stoicism continues to be found around Ukraine; from the slogans on tee-shirts to the marketing on beers and vodkas, there is squaddie humour to be found…..
Part Five - Trucks 4 Ukraine and NAFO Trucks
So back to why we were in Ukraine in the first place! When Ukrainian troops are asked what do they need, they continuously answer Drones and Trucks. Trucks are the lifeline for those on the front line. They are used for resupply, re-enforcement, carrying anti-aircraft guns and other weapons, through to the lifesaving role of casevac (or casualty evacuation).
A group of English YouTubers, including Jonathan MS Pearce (@ATPGeo) and Jonathan Fink (@siliconCurtain), gathered together online in late 2023 to raise money to buy some trucks that could be delivered out to Ukraine. These would be repainted and fitted with armour via a volunteer group called Car4Ukraine (Car for Ukraine - Volunteering Initiative). This is run by Ukrainian Ivan Olekseii and massively supported by Dr Claire Oelrichs a retired Australian vet who has personally donated half a dozen pick-ups paid from her own money as well as through fund raising.
Since starting in 2022 Car4Ukraine have processed over 555 trucks and cars for the troops worth over $4.5m. Donations have come from all over the world, including many coming from the Uk. Indeed, having trucks that are from the Uk and therefore right-hand drive, have saved many soldiers’ lives as when being targeted by the Russians, the left-hand side is more often targeted due to it being the normal driving position in Ukraine.
Once over in Ukraine the Car4Ukraine team quickly checked out the mechanical state of the vehicles and set to adding armour plates to the protect the radiator and engine as well as the driver and passengers. They then resprayed the vehicles green before handing them over to the Ukrainian army. The trucks we drove out are going to be used as casevac (The one that JP and I drove out can be seen below before and after). Given that they are going to the front in a very high intensity war, they may not survive for long, but they may enjoy a long service. As far as we are concerned, if they only save one life then it will have been worthwhile, but we are sure they will save many lives.
The other great organisation that is delivering cars to the front line is The North Atlantic Fella Organization (NAFO, a play on NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). NAFO is an Internet meme and social media movement dedicated to countering Russian propaganda and disinformation about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. In mid-2022 NAFO launched its first “Trucks for Ukraine” campaign. We were lucky to be part of the January 2025 handover of trucks when we were out in Ukraine. As part of this handover, we saw the 80th truck that been raised by YouTuber @JakeBroe, being handed over. He has run three campaigns each raising between $1.1m and $1.3M.
Approximately 30 vehicles were handed over, with drivers delivering them from far and wide including a number coming from Latvia. JP was asked to hand over three of the vehicles on behalf of Jake Broe. The videos can be found on JP’s YouTube channel @ATPGeo.
It was amazing to be a small part of this event and to be able to see the work that YouTubers and their subscribers, as well as all the other supporters of Ukraine, can pull together to achieve. It is truly humbling and makes you realise that there are some really great people out there, all of whom want Ukraine to succeed and to defeat Russia.
Slava Ukraini…. Heroiam Slava
Want to read more? Part 6&7 coming soon!
Previous Parts of this blog can be read here:
Part 1:
https://thelittlewhiskyshop.co.uk/blogs/news/supporting-ukraine-two-weeks-in-ukraine-january-2025-part-1
Parts 2 and 3:
https://thelittlewhiskyshop.co.uk/blogs/news/supporting-ukraine