Supporting Ukraine - One more truck towards Victory (Part 1)

Part one - One more truck towards Victory

On January 19^th 2025, I was given the opportunity to join YouTubers Jonathan MS Pearce (@ATPGeo) and Jonathan Fink (@siliconCurtain), both prolific commentators on the war in Ukraine, to deliver some trucks that they bought with money raised for the Ukrainian units on the front line.  Having closely followed the war and been a staunch supporter of Ukraine I was thrilled to be able to do something more than just raise funds through charity collections.  I was not fully prepared for the emotions and anger that this trip would elicit from me and the rest of the team.

On Sunday the 19^th at 9pm six of us met up just south of London.  We had interacted with each other for the previous 2 to 3 years online via YouTube chats, whilst listening to the two Jonathans, but other than a few of us we had never met before.  We were an eclectic mix of personalities all of whom held a common belief that we had to do as much as we could to help in whatever small way we could.

Having left Dover and landing in Dunkirk, we headed to pick up another member of the @ATP team, who lives in Holland.  After a quick stop for breakfast, we decided we would continue with the aim of making it to Poland before stopping for the night, quite a task as that represented a drive of approximated 1200kms (c750 mile)!

Having grabbed a lovely traditional Polish meal followed by a good night’s sleep, we set off for the final leg, another 650kms (c400 miles).  One of the team had spotted we would be passing very close to Auschwitz and we all agreed, especially given the close proximity to the 80^th anniversary of its liberation, that we had to stop for a short visit.

Once there, we quickly realised that you could not do the respect the memory of the horrors committed there, justice in just a couple of hours.  One of the plaques that sprung out was the one that stated;

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

We had been discussing exactly this, in regard to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the night before.

Having spent at least two hours longer than we had planned at the site, we headed off for the border.  Our extended visit meant that we would be cutting it very fine in order to get to the border before the midnight curfew kicked in.  Having been advised that the time it could take to cross the borders was anything from an hour to several hours, we decided to head over to a newly opened border crossing where we thought it would be quicker. 

When we turned up we were hopeful as the place was deserted.  Bets were placed as to how long we would be there.  These ranged from an optimistic 20 minutes to 4 hours!  I plumped for a hopeful 90 minutes!  We had been warned that if we were asked about whether we were returning in the trucks by the Polish guards, we had to tell them we were otherwise it would get difficult.  Once through we would then tell the Ukrainians we were leaving them for the Troops and go through the legal import process to enable us to do so.  Unfortunately, having told this to the Polish Border Guards, they then walked across to the Ukrainian side and told the Ukrainians what we were doing and then waited there whilst we were processed.  This meant we could not change our story and we had to stick to it, especially as the clock ticked closer and closer to midnight!  “vranyo" (врано) had set in! 

After a lengthy grilling from the Ukrainian customs officers, ending in being threatened with a €5000 fine each if we did not return with the vehicles, we were finally allowed to enter Ukraine ninety-one minutes after entering the Polish border post, just one minute longer than my guess! 😊

As we Drove through the countryside, we encountered many flashing blue lights and expected to be pulled over at any second as we were driving during the curfew hours and if stopped we would be made to stay where we were until 5AM!  The thought of having to endure several more hours sat in a truck in the freezing cold was not very appealing!

“During curfew, it is strictly forbidden to be outside and in public places or to walk around the cities and towns or use other means of transportation without a special pass. In addition, you can go outside to get to the nearest shelter in case of an air raid alert. If you are outside during the curfew hours, you may be stopped and asked to show your documents. Furthermore, if you are trying to enter the city, you may be told to wait at a checkpoint until the curfew ends.”

As we entered the outskirts of Lviv the number of checkpoints increased as did our trepidation!   Check point after checkpoint we applied the “look confident and drive right through” approach as we were clearly from the UK and were in a small convoy……. And it worked!  We finally rolled up at the hotel at about 2am and fell into our pits.

Distance covered with the trucks: 1250 miles (c2010 kms)

Want to read more? Part 2&3 ready to read here: https://thelittlewhiskyshop.co.uk/blogs/news/supporting-ukraine