Two friends have travelled from Wales to the Ukrainian border in a bid to help with humanitarian aid during the ongoing war.
As war rages on millions of Ukrainians have been left without their homes and possessions. Many people from Wales, the UK, and across Europe have vowed to aid those in desperate need including Jonathan Rhodes and Paul Hanlon from Aberdulais near Neath.
Jonathan and Paul, who are neighbours, began their journey on Thursday after they decided to self-fund a van from Swansea, which would take them on a 4,000-mile round-trip from south Wales to the Polish-Ukrainian border and back again.
Read more: Husband drove to Ukraine to get wife to Wales but then she had visa rejected
When we spoke to the two neighbours on Sunday they had arrived at a Ukrainian distribution centre for humanitarian aid in the Polish city of Lublin, which is situated not far from the border.
Jonathan, a process engineer, described the journey as "long" but said he was proud of the work he, Paul, and many others that they had met along the way have done to help the people of Ukraine.
"My wife is Ukrainian so I tend to be drawn into the Ukrainian community," he said. "I felt like I wanted to do something to support Ukraine after seeing the news every day. Basically I decided to use some money to hire a van but I realised there would be some issues with getting the export papers done through the port of Dover.
"So through my wife and through the church that she is a part of ,the Christian Orthodox Church, she managed to find a group of volunteers who were collecting aid in Paris. We made contact with the Paris group, we hired the van in Swansea, we drove from Swansea to Paris, picked up the goods from the church group, and then we drove across Belgium, across Germany, across Poland, and we are now in a place called Lublin, which is close to the Ukrainian border."
According to Jonathan the warehouse managed by Help Ukraine faces a "mammoth operation" in which volunteers are asked to categorise aid in to various sections such as clothes, coats, medicine, and food.
"Everybody here has welcomed us with open arms," Jonathan added. "They've been really kind. Yesterday three NHS ambulances turned up – they had come here in a convoy, they were all full of meds. And there's also ambulances from Italy here. Every day the warehouse has about 16 articulated trucks going out to Ukraine. It's a mammoth operation here – it's huge."
Jonathan and Paul planned to take the humanitarian aid closer to the border later on Sunday where they hoped to offer additional help to anyone that needs it. Jonathan said: "The border is where we'll see all the emotional scenes. We're going to try and help out at the border. Maybe we'll give someone a lift – a person with a baby and a dog and wants to head back Paris way. We'll try and find some contacts as my wife is keen to take someone in that is seeking asylum and wants to come to the UK. Ukrainians are quite loyal. There's quite a lot in south Wales – we have lots of little social nights out. We go to each others' houses and stuff like that."
With the two men planning on heading back to Wales on Monday Jonathan has said he's been in awe of people's compassion during the trip. "We feel proud that we're doing it," he explained. "And people have been so generous. We did one drive from Dortmund, Germany, to Warsaw, Poland, in one go and it was about a 12-hour drive and over 1,000km. Through my wife we met this young couple from Warsaw who let us stay for the night – they welcomed us into their house, they made us food, and said their house was our house. They were so great and friendly. Everybody's been so friendly. We're happy to be involved. And Paul has helped me out as well – he didn't have to come. He's just my neighbour and he said: 'Yes I'll come with you on the journey and we'll share the driving', which has been absolutely great."
Paul added: "We've been at it for some time now – the days have been long but at the same time I'm really glad we got everything sorted, helped out, and helped any way that we can. It's that sort of thing you feel you're compelled to do. And people have donated as well – given us money for diesel, accommodation, and stuff so we would like to thank the people of Wales as they've all helped out.
"You see everything breaking out on the television. Stuff is happening all over the world and you try and help out as much as you can. This was feasibly close enough for us just to come and make the journey. I have thought about it in the past but this time felt it was possible. I knew Jon was going and I asked if I could accompany him as I was more than happy to.
"Me and Jon – a year ago we would wave at each other on the street and now we have become firm friends. It's been an incredibly positive experience."
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