Delivering aid to Ukraine 'changed things inside me'
A man who has delivered aid to Ukraine four times said his experiences had "changed some things" inside him.Ian Russell, 35, from Coningsby, Lincolnshire, said he had supplied 20 tonnes (20,000kg) of aid to families, animals and people on the front line since his first trip in 2023.He said his deliveries had included long-life bread to troops, a washing machine in the city of Sumy, and aid to animal shelters.He is now appealing for help to get a new van after his previous vehicle broke down on his return from Sumy with driver Bob Dutcher on 18 April.
Mr Russell works as a tour manager for musicians. He said he was homeless for three years from 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.He decided to deliver aid in 2023 after seeing a BBC video about a girl trying to flee Ukraine.Carrying just a backpack, he flew to Krakow, in Poland, and then crossed the border to Lviv, in western Ukraine, to meet a friend and offer his help. "At this point I was just a guy that wanted to help. That cascaded into me meeting proper aid workers," he said.
During his most recent trip, from 14 to 22 April, Mr Russell delivered aid across Ukraine in a van donated by the Kharkiv Satellite Rotary Club.He was joined by Mr Dutcher, an American former software executive, whom he had met on a previous trip.The pair delivered aid to a non-profit group in Kramatorsk, a city in eastern Ukraine which has been hit by Russian missiles during the war.They also helped animal shelters and orphanages near Lviv and Kyiv, as well as rehabilitation and recovery facilities for soldiers.Mr Russell entered the country just a day after Ukrainian authorities said at least 34 people were killed and 117 injured, including 15 children, in a Russian missile attack on central Sumy.He said his experiences during the trip had "broken" him. "I had hours where I was just crying. Most of the time actually over really positive things."Watching people dancing and singing during an Easter parade "in effectively a war zone" was particularly moving.
"This trip has definitely changed some things inside me," he added. "The joy in people's eyes just because they're getting a duvet or some cat food, I can't imagine what they go through."Mr Dutcher said the trip was "the most personally rewarding and impactful" thing he had done, while Mr Russell had "the biggest heart of anybody" he had met.Mr Russell is trying to raise about £4,000 for a van to use during future aid trips."I just really hope we can get the money for the van and I can help a lot more," he added."If that does not happen, I'll switch back to flying to Krakow with a backpack full of tourniquets, go to the frontline and hand them over myself."
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