The Ukrainian army is being fired up in its fight against Russia by Scotland’s other national drink – Irn-Bru.
Soldiers on the frontline of the war-torn country are being fuelled by the fiery fizz.
The ex-British Army corporal leading an international aid distribution centre in Uzghorod, near the Slovakian border, with other former military personnel for soldiers fighting Putin’s forces said the energy drink was so popular, they are now running out.
Andy Den said: “If they need a pair of boots, they come to us and, while the lads are waiting for us to kit them out, I say, ‘Try this – it’s made in Scotland, from girders.’
“They like the taste, it’s not like anything else they have ever had. It’s a talking point and it’s good for morale.
“I have only got two-and-a-half cases and two bottles left but I would give a whole regiment Irn-Bru if I can get more.
“We are trying to use it sparingly– it’s valuable stuff here.
“A guy in the centre said he could sell it for £5 a can in Slovakia. It’s worth more than drugs. The expats love it.”
The 48-year-old was able to get his hands on the liquid gold thanks to Oban mum Shauna MacKenzie and an army of volunteers from the town who are helping with the humanitarian aid effort.
Andy, from Blackpool, thought of adding the energy-boosting drink to the aid supply request list because he was brought up with the drink as a child.
He said: “I come from a Scottish family – my mum was from Glasgow and my dad was from Dumbarton – so we had Irn-Bru a lot.”
He also asked Shauna for Nairn’s oatcakes. Her team managed to drive a van and people carrier 1780 miles from Oban to Uzghorod in Ukraine filled with the cases of Irn-Bru and dozens of boxes of oatcakes.
It also included £100,000 of other essentials such as medical supplies for the injured, food packs for the hungry and boots for soldiers.
Praising Shauna and the volunteers, Andy said: “They just get me, I love them – if I ask for something, they just get it.” The aid van carrying the supplies from Oban was also left in Ukraine, to help distribute goods.
Volunteer van driver Willie Bonniwell, who runs Oban’s Flit Self Drive, made the 28-hour journey with fellow driver Allan MacDougall and handed the contents and van keys over to Andy’s team. Oban man Dirk Campbell followed, with more aid packed into a people carrier, which the three men needed to travel home.
Willie, 52, who along with Dirk was on his second aid trip to Ukraine, said: “The aid centre is run by ex-army guys and when we got there with the stuff we were treated like superstars. They were delighted with the oatcakes and Irn-Bru.
“They wanted Irn-Bru for the Ukrainian army, for its slow-releasing energy. The van was absolutely full to the hilt this time. With all the medical stuff, there must have been £50,000-£100,000 worth of stuff. There were sleeping bags, oxygen machines, crutches, splints, books, tinned food, dog food and cat food.”
He added: “The guys at the centre are there for everybody who needs their help. There was a 16-year-old girl whose parents had been killed and they were trying to help get her to family in Italy. A lot of kids there have been through hell.”
As the three men returned to Scotland on Tuesday, Shauna was busy organising more aid for the centre.
She has been amazed at the incredible number of generous donations of goods, cash and volunteer time that has continued to flood in from locals in Oban as well as from surrounding mainland and island communities.
She said: “I don’t know anyone in Oban who hasn’t helped, from primary school children to residents in sheltered housing and local businesses.
“In communities like Mull, Kilmore, Seil and Appin, they have had collections too and brought them into Oban.
“The latest van load is the second load we have sent from Oban direct to Ukraine but we have sent 10 van and lorry loads altogether. We sent a lorry full of aid to a Polish community in Aberdeen who were sending stuff out and we sent seven van loads to Polish and Ukrainian groups in Glasgow, to Motherwell, Cambuslang and Greenock.”
Shauna has lost count of the amount of aid sent out but said it is worth a very substantial amount, including expensive medical and evacuation kits donated by doctors and surgeries in Oban.
Shauna’s whole family has been commandeered to help, with her partner Gordon MacLeod driving to AG Barr in Cumbernauld to pick up the Irn-Bru it donated. Her sister Alanna emails firms like Barr’s to try to meet requests for aid.
Shauna’s mercy mission started at the beginning of March when she sorted some of her 18-month-old daughter Amy’s clothes to donate to the Ukrainian appeal. She posted on Facebook to see if anyone was collecting and, when no one was, she decided to try to get enough donated items to fill her small van to drive to a collection point in Glasgow.
She was self-isolating at the time so asked if Oban’s Rockfield Community Centre would accept donated items for her there. She said: “I then got a call to say there were 200 boxes in the car park and I needed more volunteers. It was unbelievable.”
An AG Barr spokesman said the firm was delighted to help. He added: “It’s great to see the BRU get thru.”
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