We are proud of the fact that our organisation does not obtain its information about Ukraine from second or third hand sources, but gets its own picture on the ground and analyses current developments on an ongoing basis. Under the tab "Home" we present this fact as our real strength. Our organisation doesn't talk much, but is all the more willing to get to work. In the context of the delivery of relief goods, it was therefore a good opportunity for me as President of the organisation to be involved in the delivery on site together with our partner and friend Péter Szeghljánik.
He picked me up at Budapest Airport. After a few things were done in the centre of Budapest, we set off for Ukraine, a journey of about 310 kilometres.
On 06 March 2023, the border crossing took place at Barabás (Hungary) and Koson' (Ukraine) on a rainy night.
After only a few hours of sleep, we set off at 3 a.m. with 8 tonnes of relief supplies. The route led via Mukachevo, then across the Carpathians towards our first destination, the town of Khmelnytsky.
Light snow had fallen, and with 8 tonnes, particularly cautious driving was indicated. A full stop could have led to disaster on the uncleared road. As we drove, we heard music in the local dialect of the Hutsuls of the Carpathians, which created a very special atmosphere.
After crossing the Carpathian Mountains and covering 464 kilometres, we reached our first destination: the town of Khmelnytsky, where we unloaded 45 generators and 2 tonnes of relief supplies.
Videos from Khmelnytsky
As we left for Kyiv, we encountered a devastating image:
Young soldiers, practically still children in full combat gear, march lively into the unknown.
The route continued via Beredychiv and Kyiv to Chernihiv. The Russians were practically on the doorstep of Kyïv in the spring of 2022. Even from the motorway one can see the destruction in Borodyanka, where the Russians had raged.
In the areas liberated from the Russians, making progress on the road is difficult.
Off the main axes, the roads are not the best anyway. Now they are sometimes simply blocked. Fortunately, there is a pontoon bridge just before Chernihiv. The big bridge over the river Desna is destroyed and a new one is being built.
Videos from Chernihiv and on the way to Sumy
Knowing that it is 506 km to the day's destination Kharkiv, one could literally despair at a speed of 30-40 km/h on such stretches. Google Maps predicts 7 hours 47 minutes of driving via Sumy, where generators and material for kindergartens are still to be delivered in a village. Google Maps, however, naturally assumes a much higher average speed, and such stretches of pothole after pothole are sometimes 20-30 kilometres long. But there was so much to discuss and we laughed a lot at jokes from the Soviet era. That pushes aside the looming question: can we even manage that today?
Particularly frustrating are moments when, for example, after 20 kilometres you realise that the bridge in front of you had been blown up. On the way, you hardly met any people you could have asked. Even the people at the destination could hardly give any reliable information.
The answer to the question of how long the journey from Chernihiv to Sumy could take was something like this: "Well, in the past it was about five and a half hours, but today we don't know what is destroyed and where. Seven and a half, maybe?
OK, it's going to be another long day. Seven and a half hours, and then we're only in Sumy, not yet in Kharkiv.
In Sumska Oblast, there is an eerie silence in parts. Battered forests give an idea of how fierce the fighting was.
Then the realisation: the bridge over the river Seym has been blown up... So it's all back again...
Finally the roads improve and we arrive in Sumy. From here it is only 11 kilometres to the village of Stare Selo, where we can drop off another six generators and toys for a kindergarten and a ReHa centre for children. We have been expected for hours and the reception is correspondingly warm.
Photos from the village of Lyuda: the destruction was huge and many people lost everything they ever owned.
We also had some toys with us. Not Montessori quality wooden toys, but the children and teachers were very happy about them. Many of the children are completely traumatised, even if you can't tell from the outside.
The adults are determined not to let it get them down.
Nach kurzer Zeit geht es weiter. Wir müssen noch Hilfsgüter in Kharkiv abliefern. Wenigstens sind jetzt die Strassen besser. Aufgehalten wird man jetzt von den vielen Roadblocks, wo uns die ukrainischen Soldaten genaustens kontrollieren. Auch die Mobiltelefone werden uns abgenommen und auf russische Kontakte untersucht…
Photography is definitely not indicated!
It is almost 8pm when we arrive in Kharkiv and the curfew starts at 11pm.
The relief supplies are temporarily stored in a completely inconspicuous neighbourhood.
During the whole trip, we only stayed in the same place for a very short time. This was especially true in the cities. That's why we continued our journey immediately after unloading in order to leave Kharkiv behind before curfew.
The next leg was to Khmelnyckyj, where we had left the trailer two days earlier in order to make faster progress. In the Poltava region, we slept in the Mercedes Sprinter for two hours before starting the leg via Kyiv to Khmelnyckyj. It was quite cold, despite two sleeping bags, but we did get some sleep.
Below: Arrival in Kyiv early in the morning. Still very tired - the photos from the moving van are correspondingly slanted.
In Khmelnyckyj we picked up the trailer and were back in Zakarpattya late at night.
The paradise in the village of Popova at 6 o'clock the next morning had something surreal about it. The goal had been reached:
Eight tonnes of relief supplies were delivered and a profound insight into the current situation across the whole of Ukraine and up to the Belarusian and Russian borders was gained!
English 
German
wir sind beeindruckt über die so zuversichtlichen und tapferen Ukrainer. Euch zollt grossen Respekt vor Eurer Leistung, das Material in diese Kriegszonen zu bringen.
Das ist eine eindrückliche Leistung, bravo!