A little trip report about my experience with a convoy that left on 18th Sept 2025.

I’ve been following events in Ukraine for the last few years and have become more and more upset and angry about this pointless Russian war of aggression, how men and women and children are losing their lives or their health, their homes and livelihoods, and their futures, how families are ripped apart. It’s amazing to see how ordinary people are stepping up and doing what’s needed to try to stop this brutality.  I’ve closely followed events, given the odd donation, bought a T-shirt or two, but never really felt like I was doing enough. So, as part of looking for more I could do, I volunteered with D2SL.

I answered a post in the WhatsApp group to co-drive a car to Lviv and was on the road as a co-driver about a week later.

We took the 4×4 on an evening crossing from Dover, arriving in Dunkirk at about 9 PM, then drove through the night and the following day through Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and into Poland, stopping in Opole, covering just short of 1000 miles in one push. We travelled in a convoy of 8 cars. The chap leading the convoy had already made the trip 54 times! He was very keen to travel overnight as the traffic is much lighter, so you can make good time.  We took turns driving for a couple of hours each, stopping for fuel, coffee, toilets, and the odd snooze in the car.  Germany is well set up for travelling long distances, with huge laybys full of vans, cars, and lorries.  Their toilets are pretty grim, though, and they often cost a Euro for the privilege. Based on this trip, my opinion is that Polish service station toilets are much nicer.

Day 2 involved driving to just short of the border and stopping in a hotel. The plan was to get some sleep and then assemble at 3 AM, head to the border, cross it as a convoy, and aim to be at the handover in Lviv by 9 AM.  Unfortunately, it took about 8 hours to get our vehicles across the border.  The queue was moving amazingly slowly, and a lot of time was spent in the dark with the engine off, getting pretty cold! I’d definitely recommend bringing some warm clothes.  One of the team had a medical problem whilst in the queue, and as I’m a nurse, they looked to me to sort things out.  I ended up driving his car from the border to the drop-off.

Once through the border, we assembled at a petrol station just inside Ukraine.  I’d never been in a country at war before, and I was suddenly aware of the potential seriousness of things. After all, from the Russian perspective, a group of 4x4s being bought into Ukraine is a military target.  I remember looking around, thinking where I would run to if a drone appeared above us! Pretty dramatic, I know, and Western Ukraine is about as far away as you can get from trouble. But I admit it, for a while I was a bit scared.  

The handover was an amazing experience. There were other cars, fire engines, an ambulance, and lots of items of aid. There was a real sense of urgency as each group took their allocated vehicles. We were told our car would be on the frontlines down in Zhaporisia within a day or two.  Maybe it will only last a few weeks, but it will be put to good use.

Later on I was having a conversation with another volunteer in Lviv about how the war has torn apart so many families. She had been telling me about an artist who’d been doing some work with Ukrainian orphans. This artist had noticed that the children tended to only draw violent pictures, explosions, guns, fire, and destruction, and she wanted to help them express themselves more effectively through art. The next day, I was having a walk around the wonderful city of Lviv when I came across these beautiful pictures.  Stopping for a coffee a bit later, I was idly scrolling through these pictures on my phone and found myself really upset. It suddenly hit me, the enormity of the horror of this war, the resilience of these children living through displacement, losing their homes and friends, their loss of innocence, their childhoods shredded, and the capacity humans have to inflict evil. But I also felt the positive energy of people coming together to try to make the world better, the joyful humanity of people who are struggling to exist and resist, the power of just doing something because it’s the right thing to do.

Lviv is a beautiful city, bustling with bars, cafes, shops, architecture, and energy.  It’s a wonderful place and I loved spending time there.

The trip home was tiring. After crossing the border on foot and spending an extra night in Krakow because my flight was cancelled, I was very ready to get back home to my family.  I was emotional and exhausted. Two days later, I knew I will definitely be coming back.

Innes