Summary of the trip to eastern Ukraine

We returned from Ukraine a few days ago. We slept off the hard journey, counted the thousands of kilometers traveled and the expenses incurred, and also thoroughly took stock of what, where and to whom we delivered during our trip. We promised you 100% transparency – so below we provide a detailed summary of the trip.

We traveled a total of 4,800 km! Our route led from Gdańsk (from where part of our team set off with the cargo organized in Gdańsk), through Warsaw (from where the whole team left) and through almost the entire Ukraine. We passed through Lviv, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kramatorsk, Pokrovsk, Kurahove and Hulaypole. We returned to Poland through Zaporozhye, Vinnytsia and Lviv.

We provided the aid mainly to soldiers, but our route also included a civilian hospital and a family orphanage;

– in Lviv, we provided medical supply sponsored by one of our supporters to St. Nicholas Hospital;

– in Zhytomyr we visited a family orphanage and delivered a baby cot, clothes, shoes and toys;

– in Kyiv, we delivered a special car for transporting people with disabilities to the Lisova Polyana veterans care hospital. It will serve soldiers wounded at the front line;

– in Kharkiv, we delivered a batch of Ringer’s solution, dressings and bandages to the warehouse distributing medical aid to the stabilization points. These supplies will support paramedics, especially in Kupiansk;

– in Kramatorsk we had our hands full: we delivered batch of evacuation stretchers, we supported with some supplies the military hospital ophthalmological unit, and we also filled the gaps in the most needed medicines at the stabilization point;

– near Pokrovsk we supported the 59th Mechanized Brigade with energy drinks and food;

– in Kurahove, we provided the boys fighting in Donbas with the equipment they need: rangefinders, collimators, communication means, thermovision devices and car tires necessary to perform combat tasks;

– finally, we went to the Zaporozhye Oblast, where near Hulaypole we supported paramedics from the stabilization point with reliable tourniquets, Israeli Battle Dressings, syringes, intravenous fluids and a lot of other combat casualty care supplies.

Not everything went perfectly. Unfortunately, we failed to deliver a drone to one of the brigades fighting in Donbas. The drone got stuck on the Polish-German border and reached Poland two days after our departure. We will deliver it during the next trip, planned for autumn.

The total expenses incurred on medical supplies, equipment for soldiers and a drone amounted to PLN 62,040.96. Funds for these purchases come from collections and contributions from individual donors. Thank you! Of course, the help we provided to those in need during this trip amounts to a much larger financial value, as it does not take into account some in-kind donations: a car for the Lisova Polyana veterans’ care hospital donated by Tomasz Manikowski, as well as a large load of medical supplies sponsored by Piotr Mazur. During this trip, we provided aid worth more than PLN 100,000!

Logistics expenses related to car rental, fuel, two nights in hotels, insurance, and the purchase of energy drinks, coffee and water amounted to PLN 11,466.15. All purchase invoices will be published on the REACT Foundation’s Facebook wall. We promised full transparency – and we keep that promise.

We want to thank you all very much! To every person who put items up for auction, to every person who bid on the auctioned items. To everyone who contributed to our collection and made donations to us, but also to those who gave us significant discounts on purchases and organized quick deliveries of equipment! You are wonderful! Without all of you, there would be nothing to fill the cars and we would not be able to provide support to those in need.