07/06/2022
Convoy 19
Kyiv
3.00 in the morning the siren starts for the second time that night, phone applications informing about the missile attack, do not let me sleep, I am already used to it, we are probably the only ones sleeping in the great post-communist hotel Salut in the center of Kiev, which we got for free as Polish volunteers , you can feel the trembling of the walls from the Migami29 or Su27 patrols flying low above us. The roar of the engines interrupts my thoughts. In the morning we eat excellent scrambled eggs, pay by card, as if normally, but the streets are not yet full. On the way to the volunteers, whom we shed food, our trailer breaks, the drawbar broke, we block the traffic. After 2-3 hours, we reach the outskirts of the capital, to the hollows of local fast and furious, who make a masterpiece of welding, repair for free! They thank us for help. The old lady in the center, for delivering parcels, thanks us by pressing 20 dollars in our hands, Poles say this for you.
My great-grandmother lived and died here, also some uncles, and my grandmother also grew up here, and it's only now I'm here for the first time….
Being 2 hours away from Kiev, we can still see traces of war, destruction, areas of the forest located from the blast of thermobaric bombs, and the torn area by caterpillars.
Bucha, Irpień, Hostomel
We had an order to kill every man between the ages of 16 and 60, tells us a soldier who turned to good in the first days of the war. But not who shot everything and everyone. Very young, petite, in a bulletproof vest, he was cycling to his Ukrainian unit.
The stench of war irritates our nostrils, car wrecks everywhere, on every tree, sandbox, be**er, curb, thousands of traces of splinters and bullets, mortar traces visible on the pavement, housing estates are still empty, but sometimes you can see someone mowing the lawn, and grandmothers on the street near the block are sweeping the scales together with other rubbish. Life is slowly coming back. The burnt-out interiors of the blocks scare the void, the area is still not fully mined, but I go up the stairs to the 10th floor, I do not touch anything, I look at my feet, I do not open any doors, I see bedrooms, children's rooms, kitchens, everything is burnt, cracked ceilings, sometimes no walls, but the June light sneaks through the gaps, giving hope. Igor, my namesake, asks me to publish and record his short appeal - “close the sky”.
We feed the cats, and local residents tell us in detail how the Russians shot a family with two children on the street, using hundreds of cartridges for it. To this day, their family car is still standing, completely leaky ...
We drink coffee in a small neighborhood cafe, supporting the local business, the residents made a small exhibition of abandoned Russian equipment, production date 1952….
Two flags hang in the window of the block - Poland and Ukrainian, they were hung by a local volunteer, thanking us personally for our support.
At the beginning of the war, I gave our apartment in Gdańsk to Irina with her child and husband. Andrzej brought her to
Poland, and today we drink coffee in front of her house, I don't believe it, I remember how she told us how she and her son had to avoid the rotting bodies of Russian soldiers, I call her, turn on the camera and go to show what else is left. Irina has tears in her eyes, her 6-year-old Dominik sees her kindergarten, but also broken windows in the block, I go to the 4th floor, I go to her door with Andrzej, everything is complete, there is Dominik's favorite toy by the door, the little one is happy, I take her and hand her over them. They are already safe in Ireland.
Odessa
On the first block of the post, 10 soldiers approach us to shake our hand, thank Poland for brotherly help, we give them a few first aid kits. At the next blockade, they tell us to go down, turn off the lights, they are waiting for us, we are driving in the dark behind the police car piloting us. Odessa is asleep, access bridges completely hidden in the dark, the previous night the Russian army bombed the only railway bridge connecting Odessa with Romania, in the center a limited number of lights, our convoy rushes through empty streets, we only see civil patrols, 3 people, two civilians and one soldier or policeman, armed.
Until 3 am, my boys have to drink huge amounts of vodka, the Ukrainian police are not refused, I showed the greatest assertiveness, in the morning I run by the mined beach, but for example Oskar only wakes up on the floor in the toilet. Two police cars come for us and we speed at the speed of light on the signals, the boys with the policemen are sipping "what is needed".
At the gate of the special unit, 20 policemen are standing and saluting us, the general reads the thanks, and our team stumbles in, I speak as the sober one, Andrzej supports me, Oskar bounces something, Marcin is still red on his face, Mikołaj is leaning over, Seba something stutters, but we keep the shape 🙂 We watch a dog training demonstration, get to know the herd, talk about the training system, even give them some tips.
We supported them with medications and several tons of food for fighting dogs,Moreover, several tons went into the hands of volunteers supporting dogs in Mikołajewo, and even in Mariumpol, do not ask me how they reach the occupied area, I cannot write about it.
The cops wouldn't let us go, but we don't have that much health. A walk around Odessa, with the roar of sirens warning against the attack - unforgettable, conversations with soldiers waiting for the Russian soldiers unforgettable, Odessa prepared perfectly, every street with barricades as during the Warsaw Uprising. The Russians are coming closer and closer to Mikołajewo….
Zhytomyr
We manage to refuel 10 liters at night, courtesy of the station staff, who did it in thanks for our help. At night, we are struck by a storm, not only to us at first it seems that it is another rocket attack ...
Chernobyl
Our roadster was jumping up and down on the holes, the trailer probably wanted to fall off, we were driving fast, about 100 km / h with Oskar, on a similar national road, somewhere behind Chernobyl near the Belarusian border. For the last several dozen kilometers we have not seen anyone, but somewhere in the distance someone is flashing a flashlight. A bit tense, let go, we are so close to the border that we are not sure if they are Russian pederasts, Ukrainians or Belarusians. The patrol stops us, two soldiers with stools come up..ufff these are ours - “help from Poland! Come to us! " We leave the pickup truck into the forest, and there, in their madam, a huge TV connected to the car battery, a satellite dish on a tree, the Ukraine-Scotland match is on, we eat shrimp, sip a beer, there are several AK47s on the table, we exchange opinions about Russian zombies, pederasts , morons from dierewnii, murderers, rapists, we show them photos from Bucza, we no longer have curses in the dictionary. There are six of them, the youngest is 20, the oldest is over 60, they pat us on the shoulder and say, let's watch the match, because we don't know how much the Russian ones will let us, because their entire army is standing right next to them, on the other side, like a Belarusian army, the guys thank us , wish us a happy journey, we leave them medical gifts.
Equal
The curfew is already underway. There is no living soul on the roads, only after a dozen or so minutes a patrol stops us, after an inspection we continue our journey.
For 9 years, Jurek has been living with his girlfriend in a small village near the city, we provide him with medical help, he trains the youngest 18-year-olds who go to the front, but you won't find a smile on his tired face, recently many have died. Jurek is an old traveler, an off road rider, he shows us how he supported the local patrol unit with an amazing off-roader. It is two in the morning, we are drinking coffee, a g***k with a full magazine is hanging on the back of his chair, we talk about how we do not understand how to kill animals, how to bombard dog shelters, we both have no doubt that our hand would not twitch if we had shoot a Russian soldier, but not the animal.
He gives me copies of documents and a photo of a member of his family, with whom he has not had contact for weeks, he has lost somewhere in Donbas - I will find out something, I have great opportunities.
Kamianets-Podilskyi
In the smallest trailer, almost a wheel falls off, the locals repair it with cordiality for free. They thank us for our continued support.
A military unit of dogs looking for mines has no money to feed them! Their dogs travel all over Ukraine all the time, they do their job perfectly. We leave them several tons of dog food and medical equipment. We have the opportunity to learn the secrets of training, we exchange experiences. In the streets, we distribute dog food to volunteers, and on the street we feed the homeless. We are starting official cooperation with the local University and the Kamenec Podolski bioregion.
A retired general comes up to us and gives us 5,000 hryvnia - these are Poles for you, thank you.
Lviv and Zhovkva
Ira- teaches at the University of Lviv, but now he embraces our supplies and reaches the most difficult places with our gifts, I found out that our supplies even reached the Azov regiment. Again, we provided her with another throw of help.
Chmielnicki
A stop for the next refueling of our cars from carnivores taken from Poland. One of our buses stays there, we have to save fuel.
Cracow
During the meeting at the University, I receive thanks from the Ukrainian General.
Border
For two hours I argue with Ukrainian customs officers because they want to accuse me of smuggling drugs and ammunition, because they found a tramal in my medicine cabinet, i.e. opiates and an AK47 bullet, in the end I have to use my Ukrainian acquaintances because they already wanted to handcuff me, in the end this is how they deal with them I agreed that we would support their border dogs. But they didn't give me the missile! 🤣🤷♂️
At the same time, our countryman customs officer gives a fine and pays the customs duty to Mikołaj and Oskar for having too much fuel, because they have some left of what we took from home, they waste 6 hours on procedures!
Convoy No. 19, 7 days.
Oskar, Mikołaj, Marcin, Andrzej, Sebastian and me.
We delivered 10 tons of goods - medical equipment, food for dogs, people, military equipment.
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