At the end of 2023 Alastair Grant learnt that ambulances filled with medical supplies were being driven to Ukraine. It was organised by Medical Life Lines Ukraine (MLLU) who sent a convoy every two months. This post is based on his personal report of his journey in September 2024.

The convoy met up near Folkestone for a comprehensive briefing. It was made clear that there was no pressure to go beyond the Polish border and Ukraine was a personal risk. All vehicles looking similar, Alastair and his co-driver, a young married mother of two children, memorised the registration number, part being VND, which became “Very Naughty Diva”. They had to drive for about nine hours a day for three days for 1200 miles, stopping at three hour intervals for short periods.

On the first day they drove to Soest in Germany, where Alastair had a large Wiener Schnitzel for a long time, which caused several comments, though he enjoyed the German beer, a little worrying as they were up at 6.00 the next morning. They drove to Wroclaw, but had an even earlier start on the second morning.

It took the convoy two hours to exit Poland and three hours to get through to Ukraine. From the border the convoy drove in a tight formation. This worked well until they encountered pothole land. They were enormous, so much so they often had to cross over the road in the face of oncoming traffic. In Lviv the Ukrainians were waiting. Alastair met the driver who was to take the vehicle to Kharkiv. He had no English, but they hugged each other and Alastair describes it as an emotional moment. Later they had a grand dinner with a number of Ukrainians.

They spent the night in a hotel in Lviv, with a bunker. The next morning whilst walking in Lviv they heard sirens. They arrived at the Cathedral and saw an honour guard awaiting the cortege of a dead comrade. Shortly after they saw A3 placards up with pictures and biographies of men who had been killed the previous week. In the Cathedral they saw rows of placards with pictures of those killed in the past 10 years, and worse still pictures of boys and girls with messages posted about how they missed their fathers. Tears came all to easily. They were all moved by the awful suffering of the gallant people of Ukraine.

We all know how much the Ukrainians (and Russians) have suffered but seeing it close up was truly awful. What Putin has done puts him in the same pantheon as Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and other dictators.

Alastair regards it as an absolute privilege to have taken part and deeply rewarding. As an aside one might mention that, including Gift Aid, £21.000 has been raised.