Ukrainians received Czech aid worth 15 million, the vehicles from which immediately saved lives

(from our special correspondent in Ukraine)

“We are taking 12 military ambulances and one refrigerated truck to Ukraine. These are vehicles intended for field hospitals, some of them we also take to Kyiv. The refrigerated truck is intended for field chaplain Vasyl Vyrozub, who works directly at the front. This car is intended for transporting dead bodies,” Mikuláš Kroupa, director of the non-profit organization Post Bellum, told Novinkám just before the convoy left Prague 6.

Kroupa further stated that the Czech company has already contributed half a billion crowns since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. In addition, another twenty million people visit each year. Post Bellum buys aid for Ukraine with all the money, which is absolutely targeted. According to the head of the non-profit organization, drones are currently the most needed.

“Every year, we receive over 20 million crowns, which we transform into protective and defensive equipment for the soldiers in agreement with the commanders of the individual brigades. We most often carry medical supplies, including military optics,” said Kroupa, adding that at the beginning of the war, these were most often bulletproof vests or helmets.

We have no rotation, food or drink at the front. The command gives us strange orders, a Ukrainian marine told Novinka

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The humanitarian convoy left Prague on Saturday, April 20 at around seven in the morning and headed for Lviv, which is located in the west of Ukraine close to the border with Poland. He arrived there only the next day, Sunday, because there was a careful check of several vehicles at the border, which took five hours.

On Sunday, two vehicles were handed over together, the 125th Ukrainian Territorial Defense Brigade came for one Land Rover. Representatives of the local hospital also picked up one ambulance here.

After three days, other vehicles left the convoy, for which the Ukrainian security forces came to the Kyiv region. The vehicles were handed over on the spot, among others, by the commander of the humanitarian convoy, Martin Ocknecht.

“These are four off-road Land Rovers and an ambulance to the military hospital in Zaporizhia. Those cars are equipped with means for the work of paramedics. There are generators there, and mainly there are 15 lung ventilators,” Ocknecht told Novinka in Kyiv. Several hospitals later shared the ventilators.

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The handing over in Kyiv was also attended by the Czech ambassador to Ukraine, Radek Pech, who stated in his speech that Czech society is aware of the importance of Ukrainians’ fight against Russian aggression. “I am pleased that practically the entire company is involved in the Czech aid,” Pech told Novinkám, who went on to thank the organizers of the convoy and the contributors. “Ambulances, all-terrain vehicles and ventilators will find the right use in Ukraine,” Pech concluded for Novinky.

The original four stops became three. The convoy was supposed to go to Mykolaiv, which is adjacent to Kherson, but due to the numerous attacks in the Mykolaiv region, in the end, the relevant components arrived on their own for the vehicles destined for this area.

The last stop was Odesa in southern Ukraine. It is also a frequent target of Russian attacks, just in the last week there have been several in which many civilians have died and dozens more have been injured.

In Odesa, another Land Rover was handed over as well as a refrigerated truck, which was handed over to the military chaplain and Orthodox priest Vasyl Vyrozub by František Talíř, the first deputy of the South Bohemian Region, among others.

“We were asked for this car by the local military chaplains, specifically Father Vasyl Vyrozub. It will be used to escort fallen heroes from the front back to their families,” Talíř told Novinka.

While the humanitarian convoy was still in Ukraine, news came from the front line that one of the delivered ambulances had already saved the lives of three Ukrainian soldiers. The photo was sent to the non-profit organization Post Bellum by the members of the Ukrainian unit that operates on the zero line in the Donbass in the Donetsk region.

The collection of the Memory of the Nation project is still ongoing. Since its launch two days before the start of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, according to information from the collection, over 13,000 bulletproof vests, almost 4,500 ballistic helmets, 200 lung ventilators, over 50 generators and dozens of vehicles, including ambulances, have been handed over to Ukrainian defenders.

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