In Between Evacuation Trips
March 26, 2022
“It’s so good to know we are not alone in this nightmare.”
I had a video call with Andriy for an hour a few days ago for the first time since the beginning of the war. He called from the couch after just having come home from the “banya” — a Ukrainian public sauna. He and his team found some time to relax and decompress after the trip to Zaporizhzhia. I caught the two little boys, Mykolka and Andriyko, briefly before Olesya put them to bed. Her parting words were that she was so grateful to know they weren’t facing this nightmare alone.
Video call with Andriy, Olesya, Mykolka and Andriyko
Andriy gave me some more context for their trip he’s just returned home from.
When they initially set out, their original plan was to go all the way to Mariupol. But when they got to Zaporizhzhia, they were informed that if they attempted to get to Mariupol they would almost surely be fired at and killed. They didn’t make the attempt. The people they ended up transporting out of Zaporizhzhia were all Mariupol residents that had somehow managed to get out. Some of them had been sheltering in the Mariupol theatre that was bombed on March 16th. The one that was marked clearly with the words “KIDS” on the pavement outside the building.
Andriy told me that one of the church’s contacts going into Mariupol was able to evacuate people by negotiating with the russian soldiers at their checkpoints by offering them vodka they asked for in exchange for safe passage out…
On March 26th I received photos of them embarking on another trip to Zaporizhzhia, on their way now. They are transporting non-perishable food items with them. It costs approximately $450 to fuel the four buses to and from Zaporizhia (~2000km round trip), plus vehicle repairs and some food for the journey. Andriy says they could make about 8 trips a month, as long as there are funds.
Andriy and Pavlik standing in one of their vehicles used to transport aid.
Pavlik unloading nonperishable food items to be delivered to Zaporizhzhia.
Non-perishable food items to be delivered to Zaporizhzhia.
Andriy's team of drivers before leaving again to Zaporizhzhia.
