report
Status: 05/13/2022 11:24 am
They drive into occupied areas to get people out: activists in Ukraine risk a lot when they set off. They have to bribe at checkpoints, pass through minefields and come under fire.
He has already risked his life 18 times. The slim, dark-blonde man, who does not wish to be named, is sitting in a thin red T-shirt and jeans at the wheel of a white minibus. “Ljudi” is written on a sign on the car – “people”.
Again and again, private helpers evacuate people from the battle line. But he drives straight into Russian-occupied areas. It starts in Zaporizhia, a city in southern Ukraine where many refugees arrive, from Berdyansk, from Cherson, from the area around Mariupol.
Refugee aid in Zaporizhia
Georg Heil, RBB, Morgenmagazin, May 13, 2022
Every ride is different
When he drives off, he often has to take long detours – shelling, mines, looking for petrol or an overnight stay, all of this makes the journey complicated and often runs differently, he says. To Berdyansk, for example, he has already covered a distance of 870 kilometers – and that’s only around 220 kilometers on the direct route.
There is gunfire everywhere, and artillery can explode 20 meters from you. Shelling may start and you may not make it to a shelter. We always have to think and improvise. Sometimes we drive over the fields, but they can also be mined. Once when I was driving, one of our cars hit a mine and exploded.
For its already distraught passengers, this is an enormous stress. Among them are many older people and children who sometimes share a seat if there is not enough space. On the way they stay overnight in fields, in schools, with hospitable villagers.
Most of them have lost everything and see no future in their previous place of residence. There they sat in cellars or went through so-called filtration camps, where the Russian occupiers register people and look for Ukrainian soldiers and activists like the driver. That’s another reason why he doesn’t want to be recognized.
Cigarettes for the checkpoints
Denis is standing a few meters away. He’s actually a DJ, but now he and his friends help organize the daring rides. While the driver continues packing, Denis shows a couple of cartons of cigarettes that every driver sees. The cheapest kind, he says – for the numerous checkpoints of the Russians and the self-proclaimed so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, which all have to pass through. According to Denis, they also asked for detergent and SIM cards.
If you don’t give them that, they’ll most likely hold you for a very long time or won’t let you through at all. Two drivers are currently being held near Donetsk. The car was confiscated and they were arrested near Mariupol and taken to a prison in Donetsk for a month. The sentence has just been extended by a month. Both are civilians, one is 28 and one is 50 years old. He also wanted to help his sister. They are civilians with no connection to the military.
More than 20 drivers are currently being held, says Denis, and sits on the trunk of a car with dark sunglasses. The next day, two vans would go to Berdyansk to pick up people from Mariupol, he reports.
Denis supports the private journeys to enemy countries. He knows it takes more than luck to get through.
Image: A. Beer
The ear stick thing
The driver steers one of these vans and he has to take adventurous routes through the random checkpoints of the Russians. Many, he says, would already know him. “At the checkpoints, they wait for me to bring them something to eat and drink. Even ear sticks. One said: ‘If you don’t bring me ear sticks from Berdyansk, then I won’t let you through.'”
Like most private helpers, the driver sits in the car without a helmet or protective vest. He points to a small wooden cross on his wrist. That is his protection – a pastor gave it to him in a village.
He tidies up a bit more in the car. “Everything will be fine,” he says quietly. He has risked his life so many times and is now doing it again. Of course his family is afraid, he says. His wife understands why he made the decision and supports him – and at the same time she and the children do not want him to drive. But, he then adds, “I just can’t sit at home when I have the opportunity to help people”.
Ukraine: On the way in enemy country – the driver
Andrea Beer, ARD Ukraine, May 13, 2022 9:29 a.m