Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1497523
The planning took us around a month - during that month we have been sourcing information from multiple sources. Marcin assumed that we should visit locations and people expecting to receive aid. A week before the departure two persons went to Kyiv, to conduct reconnaissance. They were checking the options and making appointments with persons playing a key role in our mission. Igor Tracz has been invaluable to us (9-times dog sleigh world champion, ever since the war he has been delivering aid to Ukraine, already making 40 round trips). Igor organized meetings for us, with the Ukrainian Territorial Defence component commanders - that have been and still are receiving aid, also from Marcin. We crossed the border in Dołhobyczów, and from there we were headed to Kyiv. The trip to Kyiv and the stay there turned out to be peaceful and productive. No signs of conflict were present in the capital. Kyiv itself does not seem to be a city that is a part of the war. The city, traffic could be compared to any larger city in Poland. The only difference stems from the fact that after 9 PM the city becomes empty, the traffic disappears, and no one is moving around or walking by. The lighting is switched off in most locations. Over 3 days we were helping Igor in his transportation efforts, meeting different persons, and handling the details of our excursion that was headed further east. The city of Uman was our first stop when traveling toward the frontline. It is located down south. There we picked up equipment for soldiers fighting in Bakhmut. The further east we went, the more gloomy what appeared outside the windows became. Dneper was another city along our route. Nowhere did we have problems refueling, but the farther we went, the less frequent the gas stations were becoming. The civilians tend to establish food- serving facilities where the soldiers fighting for their homeland can eat for free - no problems emerged in that department. Our trip to Kramatorsk took another, whole day. Moving east, one needs to have proper travel permits and passwords at hand, allowing one to REPORT