ROAD TO REPATRIATED IZIUM.
OCTOBER 2022.
As the weeks have gone by, we have got closer and closer to the front-lines with our urgent aid deliveries. It means we need the proper protection for those active war zone areas. The only thing I don't have right now, is a gun. There's still time!
A spectacular counter-offensive by the Ukrainian army has seen huge swathes of land retaken and hundreds of communites repatriated. One such town is Izium. It has been widely covered in the news for more war crimes atrocities, but the nightmare has not ended yet for its residents. This week, we went to take urgent food supplies from Kharkiv, on the 200km round trip to Izium. On the road was this destroyed tank. This is the video of it's demise:-
It's brutal. It's war. It's survival and freedom.
Just a few metres away, was this huge unexploded missile embedded in the grass verge. More amazing, is the fact that you can just walk up to it and have a look. Needless to say, you don't hang around, just incase.....
The road from Kharkiv to Izium has been so badly damaged in repeated attacks by both sides, it is impassable for much of the distance. The route is diverted along dirt tracks that are more suited to rally cars than aid vans, but it's the only way. It's tough going unless you are in one of these!
As with other recent aid trips, we have seen a steady stream of military vehicles heading south to join the advancing counter-offensive. This time though, it was serious military kit, including howitzers and tanks in numbers. This is a big push at a crucial time.
With most bridges either destroyed, unusable or for military use only, the trip is arduous. Even arriving at the town itself, there are challenges just to get in.
This is a pontoon bridge over the river, the main road into Izium! Fortunately, most of the traffic is going one way - south to the city. Every 500m there is a checkpoint here; this another zone of active operations, just miles from the front-lines.
Very few structures are fully intact, there are signs everywhere that fierce battles raged here. This a stunning part of Ukraine, with rolling hills and fields full of sunflowers, it's a marked contrast. It often just depends on which side of the road you're looking at.
As with all other occupied towns, destruction is everywhere. Virtually nothing escapes unscathed, including most schools and residential blocks - ("we don't target civilians").
It didn't take long after we parked the van, before crowds of people descended on us. This was a town of 46,000 before the invasion, now it's about 10,000. They have had no power, gas or water for months. Fire engines fill water bottles on housing estates. The only way to cook food is with wood fires. On the outskirts of the town they are felling thousands of trees for firewood. There is no telling how long it will be before services are restored and winter is coming.
Within minutes, our van full of food supplies had gone. People still turned up in numbers, many running to the van, only to be told there was nothing left. Heartbreaking to watch. In a bitter irony, the speed of the repatriation has meant that processing for travel permits isn't fully established, so they can't leave the town. Strict vetting is in place, to find Russian soldiers hiding amongst the population.
Most of the remaining population are elderly, who chose not to leave their homes or couldn't. Some told us that all internet and phone was cut off months ago and a Russian 'propaganda' radio station was all they had. They had no idea that Ukraine was fighting back and winning, until the army came. Now, humanitarian aid and evacuations are priorities for these people, before the weather turns. It needs to be quick. Some cried when they told us their stories.
One of our Ukrainian army friends brought these Russian army items from newly repatriated Vesele village in Kharkiv Oblast. Helmet, army ration packs and a new 'Russian Army' t-shirt with it's Moscow manufacturing ticket still on. It is now in my possession and will be sold to raise money for aid, in a strange twiste of fate.
In their rush to get out, Russian soldiers left behind an unbelievable amount of gear, including one of their state of the art tanks. In fact, Ukraines biggest arms supplier in recent weeks, has been .....Russia. Other items brought to us, included NBC masks, radio equipment and this night sight for an AK74. On the road to Izium, another one of their T-72 tanks is parked up in a layby. Many are repurposed and upgraded for the Ukrainian army.
It's been a busy time distributing aid around the region. This a baby-aid van we did in Kharkiv, providing many items to mothers, babies and small children. There is such a limited supply, they have to register and barely get enough for a couple of days. That will have to increase dramatically ready over the winter.
This is food aid for refugees from Kup'yans'k, who were recently evacuated to a centre in Kharkiv after repatriation. Again in short supply and they have to register, even for one bag, but it's day-to-day at the moment. That's how they get by.
This is a volunteer group in Pol'ova village we have supplied food and items to, so they can set up their own distribution hub. Turbota is supporting their start-up whist they get established and this will be a common theme as communities gear-up for the winter.
This is another baby-aid trip we did to a village called Vvedenke, for mothers, babies and children who were recently evacuated from Izium. They got a whole range of baby supplies and food, as well as clothes and some cuddly toys to bring smiles to some young faces!
We can only imagine what they must have been through over the past months and what it must feel like now to be relatively safe and have things to enjoy. And we can only hope that they have good and happy lives now. The burden of war shouldn't be for them.
I'm into my last few days in Kharkiv. My visa waiver is almost up after three months, which means I have to leave the country for three months.
It was a difficult goodbye with my Turbota friends and they gave me gifts and a great send-off. But it's not the end, in fact it's only the beginning. I caught the train back to Kyiv, the first step in a long journey home.Then it will be all-aboard again in a few days for the train to Lviv, bus to Krakow and bus to Katowice airport for the flight back to Yorkshire. Full circle as it were.
Whilst in Kyiv, I went to look at the stunning Motherland monument. Standing at 203 ft high and made of 560 tonnes of steel, it's an imposing figure on the Kyiv skyline. It was built by the former Soviet Union to remember the world war 2 victory over Nazi Germany and in a bitter irony, it will almost certainly be re-purposed to celebrate Ukraine's victory over Russia.
Close by is an identical gigantic flagpole and flag to that which stands in Kharkiv. Together, they are a powerful image to the throngs of Ukrainians (and the odd Brit) who turns up to admire them. I can see celebrations on the grandest scale here in the future.
Before I headed off though, I arranged with my good friends at Brave to rebuild to do a days work in Irpin, north of Kyiv with them. So we got the customary courtesy bus and were dropped off on a back road outside the town. It's the home, what's left of it, of Ivan and Valy, an elderly couple who had the misfortune to be on the end of a Russian bombardment in the first few days of the invasion. It was over 8 months ago since this was the war zone and they have had to wait that long to get work started.
Despite what they have had to endure, they were friendly and so kind to us, it was humbling - again.
The damage to their property and land is staggering, you would think it's probably impossible to recover from. But if it's one thing I've learned here, it's how resilient Ukrainians are, so they are having none of it!
When Valy found out I was British, she hugged me and started to cry. I didn't know why, but someone translated and told me that her family, including children would have starved in the eastern war zone, if it hadn't been for British food aid. It brings it home to you just how important and effective we can be with our aid. It can be life or death.
It was incredibly hard work again, but I can't really describe the satisfaction that you get from helping a couple who should be enjoying their twilight years in peace, to rebuild their lives and hopefully still get that.
There are no words for it. And even with so little, Valy went to extraordinary lengths to make and provide ample food for us at a dinner table. It's that strength, that pride and resolve that will see them through.
Again, I just feel honoured to be able to contribute in some way and try to be the best of humanity.
With Alyona, Kyiv Brave to Rebuild organiser.
It was just an excellent way to finish off this tour of duty and this boots on the ground. I hope you have enjoyed my insights into all aspects of Ukraine and my experiences in the war zone. I will be back soon!
But before I left Turbota, I arranged with them to set up a fundraising website for 'Urgent winter aid for babies and children in war zone Ukraine'.
With winter fast approaching, I have decided to make it my mission to work tirelessly to help them get the vehicles and aid they need from the UK.
Even before launching, the fund already had over £16,000 in it! People are feeling very strongly about this cause, even in this difficult financial climate.
All the photographs and information are from my work and experiences as a front-line, war zone humanitarian aid worker in this country, that I have come to admire and love so much. I hope you will share the site far and wide and help us help those who need it most. Life is tough. It's infinitely tougher in a war zone.
Thank you for your support.
SLAVA UKRAINI.
michaeldbet@outlook.com