Yevheniy´s own project

14.10

Woke up early. Longed for fresh air. Me and Boel found trail into a big forest dominated by huge elm trees. The trail took us down to river Desna when the sun just penetrated the tree tops on the opposite side of the river.

Later when taking breakfast in the hotel restaurant, Stanislav and a friend from last year, Gregorii, came to see me. I Wanted to spend some money as compensation for our stay in the villages. Lodging and two meals for 19 people, the vodka unaccounted amounted, to some 40 000 Hrv (850 €). Georgii is a successful entrepreneur in farming and and an informal leader in village Lugashivka. Since after of the occupation he has rebuilt his farm with help of loans from the government. A year ago he had 300 cows and produced 6000 tons of potatoes.

- How can you use this amount for the benefit of the village?

- We have to repair the main village road, but that is going to cost a lot more, he said.

- I will call a meeting with the people and we decide together,

By doing so he will make people aware of this money and get them involved in the decision. I gave Stanislav 15,000 Hrv for metal shields to reinforce the trenches. Greorgii extended his hand and took mine, which almost disappeared in his huge fist.

- Thank you for the support. Just by coming here and seeing how we are doing means a lot. - Thanks to the Swedish people and to your government, you are one of the countries that give us the most support.

Ira, Stanislav and Greorgii with the bunches of money

The train timetable had been changed and we had to rent a bus for Kyiv. Also, our program had been changed. I had information on an interesting project about 45 km outside Kyiv. We had to rent a bus.

Dorte and Lars from Denmark are the first Danes I had on the tours. Dorte was terrified of going to Ukranie and refused until the last moment. On the bus, I asked her if she was still walking around and worried: No, no, no…! Lars was ready to volunteer as a soldier when the full-scale war broke out but was stopped by Dorte. Now he may perhaps do even more good behind the front by gathering money for the organization VIDA, which supports Danish and Norwegian soldiers fighting for Ukraine. Several of them have been killed.

Yevheniy´s own project

Yevheniy is sitting in his wheelchair at the gate. He got his injury during a careless dive into the river nine years ago. In the yard there are stacks of what I normally describe as rubbish. But – half-worn car tires, metal sheets welded to field kitchens, rebar, empty petrol barrels being filled, etc – everything is processed and sent to the army.

Great to see you in Ukraine! Printed on laminated paper. They were prepared to receive us. Understand the visit of this foreign delegation was a great event to them

Indoors his rooms are very worn and basic indeed . They have still not been able to repair their house completely. They lived extremely simply. In the kitchen, a group of schoolchildren are mixing various ingredients for energy bars. The soldier in the trench adds water and the whole thing is heated over a gas burner. The money they receive is used to buy gas cylinders that were stacked against the wall.

Yevheniy used to be a cripple with neither functioning legs nor hands. Now he had found his purpose in life and become a man of importance. They don't even have a name for the organization.

Just one example of all the small, large, registered, and unregistered volunteer organizations with their own networks that serve the armhis is fy. Tens of thousands, maybe 100,000. If a soldier loses his left-hand glove, it only takes a couple of days before one is delivered by the private postal service Nova Posta. -Taster than ordering through FMV (Swedish Defence Materiel Administration), Lasse pointed out.

Tilman from Germany noted how overwhelmed he was by the warmth and solidarity between people.

Late lunch at 4:30 PM together with Perre and his Vala at Maidan. Perre is now a national celebrity. Check out what he does on FB Perres Matpåsar. They usually meet up somewhere during our tours.