Kyiv in two days

14.10 The train to Kyiv leaves shortly after ten in the evening. We take a taxi to the station to avoid risking overcrowded buses. Track number seven, and we head out to the train that will leave in half an hour. Mattias's bag is gone! It's the first time we've seen any crime during any of our eight tours. The rest of us get on the train, while Mattias and his friend Thomas stay behind to look for it. The police arrives, and they get help from a friend of Asya.

The train leaves, and we lie down to sleep. There was a tracker in the Mattias bag, so there was hope that it could be recovered. I fall asleep pretty quickly, but the sleep is interrupted twice by evacuations. You get used to it surprisingly fast.

15.10 Arrived in Kyiv after 2,5 h delay. At last we reached the capital city. Mattias and Thomas report that the bag was found, the thief was roughly caught, and that they took a night bus. They actually reached the hotel before us. We were probably pretty bummed.

Kyiv Independent

At eleven, Kyiv Independent comes to our Hotel Ukraine. Several members of the group were subscribers of the newspaper, and it turned into an intense discussion.

  Olesia Bida said;

It will be very difficult for young men coming back from abroad after peace.

The afternoon we walked around central parts of this big city.Time was too short to see everything we should have seen. All the beautiful, remarkable and important places. Next tour we must have an extra day in Kyiv!

• 

• 

• 

1. Asya takes around in her city

2. A lady was selling her beautifull handknitted socks for 10 Euro

3. A manhole cover in old town picturing vikings coming to Kyiv for trade

Glory UA

A relatively large organization that on average receives donations of two million dollars in a year. Administrative costs are only 3%. The law requires them to be under 20%. Same as Sweden.

Glory UA supports, among others, the Signal Battalion, whose patch I happened to have on my sleeve when we got there. Pretty successful. During Spring, Signal has fought in Operation Vivaldi with great success. The difference between attacking and defending is huge when it comes to those killed and severely injured. Previously, the ratio was said to be 1:5 in Ukraine's favor. Nowadays, almost 1,500 Russian soldiers are neutralized daily. Now they said the ratio is 1:10.

Sergii Zhukovin

He is said to have been the first to successfully take out an enemy with a drone in 2022. Till today he has done this with well over 1000 Russians. For this he has been heavely decorated. As a thanks for earlier donations Glory UA I was awarded a picture of a drone with the signature of Seregii in the Signal Battalion. Proud, but where to put this picture?

Me with my new trophy. Serghii, callname "Schweiger", in the background.

The war hurts, many get drug addictions

After an unusually good lunch at Puzata Shata, we walked a few kilometers to visit an organization that takes care of veterans. Eugene, a thin man with sorrows in his eyes and a crooked nose, explains how those who survived and managed without physical injuries have been affected by the horrors of war. In Ukraine too, suicide is common; some drown their memories in alcohol, others with drugs. It is especially these people they work with. They also have a collaboration with the Swedish organization Convictus.

Still 95% of the veterans want to return to the army

Eugene tells about a boy who lost both eyes and both arms. The worst thing is the loneliness and isolation. "We try to take them out to parks, into nature and to the water, but we lack a vehicle that can transport wheelchairs." In Kyiv alone, there are 100.000 veterans.

We lack a vehicle that can transport wheelchairs.

Shenia, so far completely silent, sat next to Eugene, I asked him to tell us his story.

I never thought the war would come. I was married and had two children. I lived a good life. I had a good job at the world's best pizza restaurant. But on 24.2 2002 it was closed and I lost my job.

Then everyone was filled with the urge to defend their country. At the beginning of March I applied as a soldier. In July I was transferred to Donbas. On the first day we lost 120 comrades. On 15.9 I was seriously wounded by a shot from a tank. My ribs were broken and my lungs were damaged. I was completely covered with mud. It was super scary not to be able to see, not be able to move any part of my body. The comrades managed to pull me out. 20 minutes later the Russians took our position.

I am aprofessional chef and can get a job anywhere in the world. But I have chosen to stay to give assistance to help those less fortunate.

Shenia is short and stout. Surprisingly smoothly, he sneaks around the overcrowded room with a jug of his specially blended tea with at least 17 different ingredients.

Before we left, he stood up and said;

This is the war of values

The raven is a symbol of Kyiv. The white one is the one who has a different mindset, doesn´t follow the flock. An inverted image of the black sheep. It's the white raven that saves the flock.

Our train departs at 19.29

But there was no train. The incoming train from Lutsk, where the Russians had heavily bombed the night before, is delayed. All trains were significantly delayed. The huge waiting hall was full of desperate passengers. And no reliable information. -"Coming in an hour, maybe." Hours passed, and I began to realize that we would miss the ferry from Gdansk the next day. Four of us want to take a chance and take a bus directly to Warsaw to catch their flights tomorrow. Soon it is past midnight.

Teenagers waiting for their train