Another 2 weeks of war have passed and I have had no time to make an update being behind the wheel.

Among the numerous trips I made, three were to Chernihev and surrounding villages picking up 19 people from the area and catching two flat tires in the process, not a big surprise taking into account number of holes caused by shellings of Ukrainian roads.

One of the people I evacuated from Chernihev were Sacha with his daughter. A rocket fell beneath their apartment building where Sacha lived with his mom, wife and 4 kids. It fell short of the building by just two meters but the blast was so strong it blew out all the windows and ripped the doors out with the hinges. The children’s room was facing the courtyard and took the main impact. Sacha’s 4-year old son lost an eye he will never recover but Sacha is still glad he survived, he says it’s a miracle. He was not able evacuate with his wife on one of the rare buses to leave the city under siege because men were not allowed on board. So Sacha stayed behind with his youngest daughter. They spent 3 weeks living in a damp basement when I came to pick them up. I took them to Winnica where they reunited with the rest of the family.

The defense of Chernihev stopped the Russian advance on Kiev from the North but it cost the residents dearly with some of the quarters completely wiped out. The casualty toll is still unknown in this city which had a population of 300 000 before the war.

Sonia was born in Kozelec next to Chernihev and was living in Desna, a military base north of Kiev, where her father was serving and to which I have been bringing humanitarian aid all past week (thank you https://www.facebook.com/marta.lewandowska.750?__cft__[0]=AZWCRc4tDuQx_qYKujjKRcNzbmyc-hYOKR5tphsZ-F-4bK3rh6oQxoXM3gP93RPHJ5FbkxiasYAYiqxCg7LrQQhgv7i7p7WEn38kSqMMxENPFVESs9S11KUV-brLcsGkwpQXySGHhcl5nqaRfAbeKd7X&__tn__=-]K-R, https://www.facebook.com/IAmCaritas/?__cft__[0]=AZWCRc4tDuQx_qYKujjKRcNzbmyc-hYOKR5tphsZ-F-4bK3rh6oQxoXM3gP93RPHJ5FbkxiasYAYiqxCg7LrQQhgv7i7p7WEn38kSqMMxENPFVESs9S11KUV-brLcsGkwpQXySGHhcl5nqaRfAbeKd7X&__tn__=kK-R, https://www.facebook.com/chelmpl/?__cft__[0]=AZWCRc4tDuQx_qYKujjKRcNzbmyc-hYOKR5tphsZ-F-4bK3rh6oQxoXM3gP93RPHJ5FbkxiasYAYiqxCg7LrQQhgv7i7p7WEn38kSqMMxENPFVESs9S11KUV-brLcsGkwpQXySGHhcl5nqaRfAbeKd7X&__tn__=kK-R) In the car, wearing a flowerful coat, Sonia showed me a piece of paper she always carries with her. It’s a list of family members and their phone numbers - just in case she was lost somewhere in the rubble during an airstrike. At the end of our 15-hour journey to Poland she asked me to also put my name on her paper.

Together with her sister, mother, grandmother and 3-month yr old brother they are now living in Konstancin next to Warsaw (thank you https://www.facebook.com/kopytowski?__cft__[0]=AZWCRc4tDuQx_qYKujjKRcNzbmyc-hYOKR5tphsZ-F-4bK3rh6oQxoXM3gP93RPHJ5FbkxiasYAYiqxCg7LrQQhgv7i7p7WEn38kSqMMxENPFVESs9S11KUV-brLcsGkwpQXySGHhcl5nqaRfAbeKd7X&__tn__=-]K-R ).

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Tanya and her five children live just 20km from the Russian border in a small village north of Chernihev. They were woken up by explosions on the first day and their village fell under occupation on day one. The only shop in the village closed immediately and the Russians rationed out bread from the local bakery. Each family, no matter the size, was allowed one loaf of bread per day. That was the only food that was accessible for over 40 days. Tanya could not withdraw any money from the bank either nor leave their village. A local school teacher was able to organise some petrol to drive Tanya out to nearest pedestrian crossing on the Desna river where on the other side I was able to pick them up, as all the surrounding bridges have been blowed up. Together with Nadia and her daughter we drove for 24 hours straight to the Polish border where they spent a night in Rejowiec (thank you Radek Machel). From there the group will travel for another day to Spain to be hosted by families in Toledo and Madrid (thank you https://www.facebook.com/raindovemodel?__cft__[0]=AZWCRc4tDuQx_qYKujjKRcNzbmyc-hYOKR5tphsZ-F-4bK3rh6oQxoXM3gP93RPHJ5FbkxiasYAYiqxCg7LrQQhgv7i7p7WEn38kSqMMxENPFVESs9S11KUV-brLcsGkwpQXySGHhcl5nqaRfAbeKd7X&__tn__=-]K-R)

Mission of the day: to pick up a woman from Congo in Kiyv - Sifa was refused access to a train at the Kiyv station - because of her skin color - she then found herself in a street in Kyiv where there were Russian soldiers - despite the fact that she raised her hands and put herself on the ground - they shot her - she managed to escape - badly injured in her leg she s took refuge in a hiding place in Kiyv - alone and without knowledge of Ukrainian or Russian - she was on her own. Maciek went to get her - he transformed his mini van into an ambulance to try to transport Sifa to the border where an ambulance is waiting to take her to the hospital in Lublin - then to Berlin where her family is waiting for her. They have just come out of the hot zone and are approaching the Polish border. Thank you to everyone who has already donated. Feel free to share as much as possible And yes it's a missile in the first photo - 

Dear Friends. I firt would like to very very warmly thank you all for your participation ! It is way beyond my hopes. 3260 euors of March 16th went to Maciek's account. He will be able to refund a part of what he already paid : manly gaz - but also food and drinks - blankets - shoes - hot clothes ... 

As you know the war goes on : minute after minute - putting more and more people in very difficult situations. 

Maciek is now handeling a team of several bus drivers - They managed to help victims of racism, children sick with cancer, and now he will help LGBT+ refugges as well. 

The fight goes on and we still need your help and support. Talk about us with your friends and colleagues, spread the link, support as you can. 

Many Many thanks in advance 



Slava Ukrainy