The car that saved Ukraine’s defenders: the mission “Pokrova” report

On 1 October Ukraine marks Pokrova – the feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, and Defenders Day. That day we also closed the mission named after it, which began on 24 August, Ukraine’s Independence Day. The best report on it was not written by us: it came from the soldiers of the unmanned aerial systems company of the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade.

In the video they stand beside a red pickup – in the volunteers’ chat Tatjana calls it “our red Englishman”. Its tailgate is riddled with shrapnel: the soldiers came under fire while on a task.

“Today this car is not just a machine, it is a real guardian angel on wheels. The vehicle took the whole blow, and most importantly, all our soldiers are alive.”

“You live in another country, yet you care what happens to our Ukraine and to our families,” the soldier says, and thanks the fund Visi išvien from Kaunas. That thanks belongs to everyone who chipped in for this car. Seventeen such vehicles stayed in Ukraine during the mission. But “Pokrova” was more than vehicles, so here is the rest, in order.

The mission in numbers

• 14,168 kg of humanitarian aid – the weight of what we loaded and sent off from the Christ’s Resurrection Basilica in Kaunas.
• 43 loadings – that many times we loaded aid into vehicles: our own, and those in which other funds took it to Ukraine.
• 17 vehicles stayed in Ukraine – we drove them there ourselves and handed them to Ukraine’s defenders.
• 2 lorries of nets and other aid – not part of those 14 tonnes. In all, from July to September we sent 58.3 tonnes of marine nets.

We were on the road almost every weekend. One of those runs – the seven vehicles that left on 8 September – we have already written about.

For hospitals and for people

A large part of the cargo was for those who treat, nurse and simply live next to the war.

• Medical beds and mattresses from LSMU Kaunas Hospital – for hospitals in Ukraine. The same lorry carried bed linen and 40 office chairs given by a company in Vilnius.
• Boxes marked «ШПИТАЛЬ» (“for the hospital”) – bed linen and herbal teas.
• More than 60 sets of mattress, blanket and pillow. Some were brought in by people; the rest our volunteers sewed right in the basilica, from fabric offcuts and foam.
• Household appliances – fridges and washing machines, as well as computers, monitors and crockery.
• Paraffin for trench candles – 250 kg on one run and about 400 kg on another. These are stripped church candle stubs that we collect all over Lithuania; Ukrainian volunteers pour them into candles for the winter.
• Food – rusks, dried apples and Lithuanian apple purée.

To the volunteer centre in Pyriatyn, where Svitlana Nimets works, we took a fridge and fabric – the centre’s volunteers are already sewing from it. After our visit Svitlana wrote: “Behind every box, every kilometre of road and every roll of fabric stand real people. The Lithuanian people have been beside us since the first days.”

This is how Pyriatyn’s volunteers unloaded our vehicles:

In the photos: a box of herbal teas for a hospital in the hands of a soldier of the 129th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade; bed linen, pillows and a computer received by soldiers of the 253rd Separate Assault Regiment “Arey”; a Ukrainian volunteer with the defenders; and T-shirts sewn in Pyriatyn from our fabric.

58 tonnes of marine nets

A separate part of the work is marine nets. In July, August and September, together with the Ukrainian fund Legit, we sent 58.3 tonnes. One load of 21 tonnes went to fortifications along the border in the Sumy region; another, 20.5 tonnes, to cover Ukraine’s energy facilities and fortifications; one more was reloaded by crane in Kyiv for delivery to Kharkiv. “The nets are superb. These very ones will go to the fortifications along the border in the Sumy region,” wrote the Ukrainians who received them. Legit thanked us for the nets in a video of their own, and we wrote about the earlier loads here.

Nets cover roads and electricity substations alike – so they protect not only the defenders, but also the light and heat in people’s homes. And in the basilica our volunteers keep weaving camouflage nets: UAB Netmark, a company from Tauragė, gave 600 kg of net base for that.

Seventeen vehicles stayed in Ukraine

We buy the cars cheaply or receive them as gifts, hitch them with towing triangles and drive them there ourselves. Seventeen of them stayed with Ukraine’s defenders during this mission: they evacuate the wounded and carry food, water and people. Among them is the VW Transporter awaited by the soldiers of the 52nd Separate Mechanized Artillery Brigade: the minibus is already in Ukraine, but we are still collecting support for it.

During the mission aid was received by the 129th Separate Heavy Mechanized Brigade, the 253rd Separate Assault Regiment “Arey”, the 33rd Assault Regiment, the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar”, the 110th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the air-defence unit of the patrol police brigade “Khyzhak”. “The soldiers of the 33rd Assault Regiment gladly take the little mattresses and blankets. An insatiable regiment – they really are holding the hardest stretch of the front, near Kramatorsk,” Tatjana wrote.

The soldiers of the 93rd Brigade sent a short thank-you “to our Lithuanian friends for the support and the prayers”:

Used tyres travelled with the convoys too. The owner of one pickup thanks us for them: he promises to “re-shoe this little war horse”, because the old rubber is no longer fit for winter, and wishes us God’s blessing.

In the photos: soldiers of the 33rd Assault Regiment carrying the aid in; a mattress and pillows for the 129th Brigade; soldiers of the “Khyzhak” unit by a van with aid and boxes of candles; fastening parts for a workshop in the hands of soldiers of the 93rd Brigade’s rifle battalion.

The road is getting more dangerous

The trips to Ukraine are becoming more dangerous: the Ukrainian–Polish border area is now a target too. There are simpler troubles as well – a car breaks down by the roadside and the drivers fix it themselves. This time they got as far as Kryvyi Rih.

What a morning looks like where we deliver is shown in a recording by Artiom, a soldier we know: glide bombs are flying overhead again. Early this year we took an Opel Antara to his wife, who serves too.

And for the four-legged

When people bring pet food, we take that as well. In Chornobaivka, in the Kherson region, our food reached these dogs. And this recording came in at night: a mother dog nursing her puppies came to eat. “Sincere thanks for the food,” says the Ukrainian who filmed her.

Who made it happen

It all starts in the Christ’s Resurrection Basilica. The evening before a run the volunteers sort the aid and load the vehicles, the head of the fund, Tatjana Narkevičienė, fills in the cargo declarations, and young people from the Young Conservative League (JKL) strip church candle stubs, separating the paraffin from the aluminium – both are needed.

Thank you to the funds “Mušk maskvėną sotus”, VšĮ “Memorabilis” and the Ukrainian Armed Forces support fund “Kietoji linija” – they take the aid we have collected and deliver it responsibly to where it is needed in Ukraine. Thank you to Oleksandr Duka and the Ukrainian charity fund “Tut i zaraz” («Тут і зараз», “Here and Now”) – they receive our aid in Ukraine and pass it on to hospitals, people and units. Thank you to Legit for the road the nets travel, to UAB Netmark for the net base, to LSMU Kaunas Hospital for the beds. Thank you to the drivers, who are not afraid – or are afraid and go anyway. And to everyone who brought, bought or transferred something: these numbers are yours.

On Saturday, a new mission

There is no time to stop. This Saturday, 3 October, a new convoy sets off – seven crews:

• the fund’s Crafter with a caravan;
• an Opel Movano and an Opel Frontera;
• a VW Passat and a Seat Toledo;
• a VW Sharan and a Renault Kangoo;
• an Opel Combo and a Mazda Demio;
• a Volvo V70 and an Opel Astra;
• a VW Transporter with a trailer of tyres, going as far as Kyiv.

Thirteen vehicles, a caravan and a trailer. Fuel alone for a run like this comes to about 1 000 €.

How to help

• Transfer support marked “fuel”: Labdaros ir paramos fondas „Visi išvien“, LT05 7044 0901 1228 8322 – or by card on the support page.
• Become a monthly supporter. Monthly support lets us plan the next run in advance instead of waiting until the fuel money is in.
• Come and volunteer. The trench-candle season has begun, so we need hands to prepare candles, weave nets and sort aid. Christ’s Resurrection Basilica, Žemaičių g. 31A, Kaunas, Monday to Friday and on Saturdays (I–V 17:00–20:00, VI 10:00–20:00). Newcomers are trained on the spot – more about volunteering.

“They ask, and we are the hands that can give and do give,” says Tatjana. Happy Pokrova, Ukraine. Visi išvien – all together! 🇱🇹🇺🇦