A SHORT STORY OF A CAMPERVAN TRIP IN UKRAINE
by John Marshall
(with apologies to Marina Lewycka)
John & David’s Campervan
When Russia invaded Ukraine, my friend David Burnett and I, driven by a desire to help and angry about the UK government’s unwillingness to open its doors to Ukrainian refugees, decided to fill up David’s campervan with essentials and head to Ukraine. We also hoped to return with refugees seeking a safe place in the UK.
David found Svetlana, through the Ukrainian church in Peterborough, who gave us contacts in Uzhorod to whom we could deliver the goods. She also asked us to deliver two washing machines for a mother and baby refuge. They became known as Wilma and Walter.
A contact in Herefordshire, Ian Shanks, had completed a similar journey two weeks prior. He gave us good advice and lead us to Camp Zilina.
On Saturday 2nd April, two weeks after making the decision to go, we embarked on our mission. Here is a short account of our journey.
Day 1: Saturday 2nd April 2022
Drive to Eindhoven, Netherlands. 341 miles.
Four countries – UK, France, Belgium and Netherlands. We spent the night in a deserted car park. Temperature was minus 5C. MaccieD refused to serve us on foot. Fortunately Anne had equipped us with freshly made sourdough bread which served us well.
Bed in camper van above Wilma & Walter
Day 2: Sunday 3rd April 2022
Drive to Katowice, Poland. 672 miles
Route: Eindhoven, Dortmund, Kassel, Leipzig, Dresden, Katowice.
Three countries – Netherlands, Germany, Poland.
Breakfast at an excellent service station at Kassel which at a later stage in our travels becomes a home for us. We both cope heroically with a Burger King, avec chips in David’s case.
Journey was utilised fully to establish more contacts, develop plans further.
Overnight at a service station parked next to a Spanish campervan on a similar mission. We greeted each other and waived Ukrainian flags. The Ukrainian people are not alone.
Dozens of trucks as neighbours for the night.
Day 3: Monday 4th April 2022
Drive to Michalovce, Slovakia. 262 miles.
Two countries: Poland and Slovakia.
Shower!
First stop at Krakow where we were to collect a consignment of pills organised via David’s friend Nathaniel. We could only buy very small quantities in the UK. Nathaniel supplied over 60 thousand, ibuprofen and Paracetamol.
Drove across border into Slovakia. Stunning alpine scenery. Ski resorts
Spent night in deserted car part belonging to Yazaki Manufacturing. Thank you Yazaki san.
Road from Poland to Slovakia
Day 4: Tuesday 5th April 2022
Journey into Uzhorod, Ukraine and back to Slovakia. 95 miles
Two countries: Slovakia and Ukraine
5am start to border. Urgent messages from Oleksandr asking for details of aid and vehicle for Ukraine customs which we completed en route. Joined the small queue of mainly humanitarian vehicles entering Ukraine.
Lengthy process to leave Slovakia and enter Ukraine. Not helped by our lack of documentation. We were asked for the original registration document for campervan countless times. All we could offer was a scan and a photo of the originals which were sitting happily in Northamptonshire. That proved to be sufficient, eventually. At every stage we were directed to the next “window”. We thought this was some nightmare from which you can never escape.
We met a large Netherlands humanitarian bus, loaded with goods and volunteers. They helped us but in the end said we would not get across because of the lack of documentation. They were wrong.
We met a man with a van delivering humanitarian aid to Ukraine. His 17th mission. He carried cakes and biscuits for all the immigration, customs and police officers. He also offered us his holiday accommodation in the mountains of Slovakia. Nice website. We also met him on the way out.
Numbers crossing this border point are c3,000 per day. That’s down on the peak of 12,000.
Met in no mans land by Valeria, who leads the railway station support mission and the baby and mother refuge, and Alyona who spoke good English. Valeria is an estate agent, Alyona a model and actress. Alyona is waiting for her UK visa.
Drove to the station where we were met by Oleksandr and Helena. Helena works for BNP Paribas. Campervan was unloaded.
Every corner of the camper van held essentials
We witnessed remarkable acts of human kindness and generosity. Refugees arriving off trains from Kyiv and elsewhere. They were given food, drink, medicines, legal advice especially re paperwork, baby food. The regular bar had been converted to a baby food bar. Refugees arriving off trains with nothing, perhaps a small bag or two, sometimes a pet. No men around for obvious reasons.
We visited the hostel where 11 women and 12 children reside. Including one mother with her recently born triplets whose husband is fighting. She remained out of sight in a state of trauma. They are developing two more floors. Wilma and Walter go to those. In spite of the wretched circumstances, this was a happy place.
Oleksandr took us on a city tour. He was forced to leave his home in eastern Ukraine 10 minutes before it was attacked. His father, a Russian, will not speak to him because he says he is polluted with western propaganda. According to the father, Putin’s narrative is the correct one. Oleksandr is an IT engineer with Budweiser. He is doing a remarkable job but wracked with guilt knowing that many of his friends and family are fighting. He took us to a mural featuring a sinking Russian vessel with the caption “Fuck you Russia”. He describes a “parallel universe” – Ukraine and war on one side, the west on the other.
We had come armed with letters of credential from our respective Lord and Deputy Lieutenants which we showed to everyone in Uzhorod. Shortly after we left, Valeria posted this on her Facebook:
The strength of Uzhgorod – in Uzhgorod City, Ukraine.
John Marshall, 63, is from Herefordshire that lies in the west of England.
His long-term friend David Burnett is older by one year and lives in the central county of Northamptonshire.
As soon as the first Russian bombs and rockets started bombarding our Motherland, they decided to act. When they found out about our “Mother and Baby” sanctuary, they immediately wrote a letter to the Queen because they wanted to be sure that their offer of help would be accepted. Whilst waiting for this official letter, they, at their own expense, bought food, personal hygiene items and two washing machines. They then loaded it all into their campervan and spent three days getting to Uzhgorod.
John and David!
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we are waiting to welcome you again but as our guests.
We know those who liked our Carpathian shovdar (regional specialty), they always come back!
Drive safe! God save the queen
Train station at Uzhorod
We returned to Slovakia, spending another 3 hours to cross the border. We met three young French volunteers from Chretien de l’Orient who were returning from their humanitarian mission in Ukraine. They had worked in several of the world’s worst disaster zones including Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Ukraine was being added to their list. One young NGO had spent 66 days in captivity in Iraq in a cave by Shia militiamen. He never knew until the very last moment whether he would survive or not. One of his fellow captives, an Englishman, was killed.
Drove to Michalovce where we shopped for the next day’s mission, and on to Kosice where we found a decent camp site. Hot food, beer and shower. Luxury.
Day 5: Wednesday 6th April 2022
Kosice to Zilina and back. 323 miles
One country – Slovakia
Drive to Zilina to visit refugee camp. Further shopping. Campervan took out barrier in supermarket car park. We didn’t think that the 5m restriction would apply to 7.5m campervan.
Peter Bursa was the leading volunteer at Camp Zilina. He had worked in Reading in the UK for many years. Ex teacher, had planned to take a sabbatical but Ukraine happened.
The camp houses 190 refugees. It is located on three floors in an ageing office building. The owner had planned to develop it into flats, offices, retail but Ukraine happened. He has contributed it, fully heated, lighting, electricity etc. It is the only private camp in Slovakia.
There are lots of volunteers, the place seems happy, but sometimes trouble breaks out, not surprisingly.
Young girl, an artist, painting a T-shirt for her boyfriend who is fighting on the front line.
Peter, even though he spent several years in the UK, wondered if we could still send money to Slovakia despite Brexit. The impression that the UK is an island, cast adrift from Europe.
Most residents were out on afternoon walks.
1/3 will never go back to Ukraine. 1/3 might go back, 1/3 do not know. The implications for Ukraine’s recovery are bleak. Peter reckons it is 7 years before anyone goes back.
Camp Zilina is mainly about integration – jobs, community, housing.
Rate at which refugees are arriving is slowing but overall numbers keep increasing.
We spoke to Rosie Schumm, a London based lawyer, part Ukrainian, who was going apoplectic trying to help her family members into the UK, and others. The Home Office under the leadership of Priti Patel, and Boris Johnson as prime minister, are unbending. This is what the people of Britain voted for. They may regret it now but it is what they voted for.
At midnight we received a call asking if we could head back to the border at Uzhorod to take a family of three plus their dog to Kassel in Germany. We said yes.
Ukranian family comfy in the camper van
Day 6: Thursday 7th April 2022. The longest day.
Kosice to Kassel, Germany via border at Uzhorod. 850 miles.
Three countries: Slovakia, Poland, Germany
Early start to return to the border at Uzhorod to collect the family at a meet and greet facility one mile from the border. We met Viktoria (mum), Anastasia (daughter, 34 weeks pregnant), and Artem (son), plus Platon the dog. Their home was near Druzhkovka in Donbass. Their husbands could not leave Ukraine.
Eventually, after several stops we arrive at our destination in Kassel at 12.30am the following morning. The hostel was not expecting our family, there was no room. In any case the dog could not stay. Sheer shock on the faces of our family. We need petrol in case we need to transport to a different location so we go to fill up to be told upon our return that they have been moved to a different place.
Throughout the journey we were liaising with Alonya in Berlin whose parents were waiting in Krakow. She and her parents were waiting for visas to enter Britain. We were expecting to bring them to the UK where their sponsoring family awaited them in Peterborough. There was no news. Her father suffers from diabetes.
The day ended badly at 3:30am.
We spend the night at the Kassel service station. Truck drivers are already washing and ready for early start.
Day 7: Friday 8th April 2022
All day in Kassel. 44 miles.
One country – Germany
We hear that the family have been moved to city centre accommodation in a clean modern building. We go to meet them. There are tears of joy, or perhaps relief. A Russian speaking doctor has been in touch already so Anastasia is in the German medical system. We take them to get their free SIM cards and some additional furniture. It is extraordinary. Within 12 hours of entering Germany they are housed, their health is taken care of, their comms sorted.
We give them a bag, some snacks and something for the dog. We part with hugs and tears. Anastasia gives us a small token of appreciation – a 10 kopyiok coin. In Ukraine we are told this is a hugely significant gesture.
A Bulgarian family is celebrating a wedding. The boy looks like he is training for a role in the Godfather.
Our other family are still waiting for the UK to issue visas. Our friend Hendrik Vermaas who lives in Dusseldorf volunteers transport to the UK as and when visas are issued.
The contrast between the EU and the UK is stark.
We go in search of the Beuys 7000 oaks. We find two.
Dinner at a slightly strange restaurant on the edge of Kassel. Two menus, prices 10% apart. Inflation like this not seen in Germany for a very long time. Overnight at Kassel service station. We are like old friends.
Viktoria (mum), Anastasia (daughter, 34 weeks pregnant), & Artem (son) with John & David
Day 8: Saturday 9th April 2022
Kassel to Northamptonshire: 533 miles
Five countries: Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, UK.
We are searched at the border for possible illegal migrants. This is the UK after all.
20 mile queues of lorries waiting to leave the UK. This is the UK.
Fuel shortages in Cambridgeshire. Arguments, near punch ups, collisions as waiting motorists try to push in front of each other to try to get fuel. So much anger. This is the UK. Yet on our journey we have seen so much humility, dignity and quiet suffering.
3,120 miles in total. Campervan never blinked, never hesitated.
***Little ships***
John Marshall
14th April 2022