Plan to take truck to Ukraine for wounded soldiers

Two men from Wolverhampton are looking to raise £7,000 to buy a truck to drive wounded frontline soldiers to hospital in Ukraine.

Steve Morris, 64, and Brian Gunter, 58, plan to make the journey in late September, after previously delivering food and medical supplies in a van to the country in 2022.

Morris explained that proposed aid would be dropped off again this time, with the Wolverhampton pair probably coming back by train after leaving the truck with the Ukrainian army.

He said the journey was being planned after his friend came across Ukrainians while taking part in combat competitions, called buhurt, in Europe and both knew people who had died as a result of the war.

Morris said: "A lot of people who were part of the Ukraine [buhurt] team, Brian's friends, are or were of fighting age.

"Some of them didn't come back."

He added that Gunter was "pretty close to friends who died on the battlefield".

"One is too many, and more than one is more than too many," Morris said.

A remote-controlled vehicle operated by Ukrainians, "with tracks as opposed to wheels, like a small tank", rescue those wounded from the battlefield, according to Morris.

It drives them to where Ukrainian medics are not in danger and the soldier can then get first aid, he said, before the "evacuation" vehicle, that the pair hope to deliver, takes over and transports the wounded person to hospital.

Morris, who is a celebrant, said that they were due to travel 1,300 miles to Lviv in Ukraine for three days.

He stated the trip was being organised by the charity Driving Ukraine, with a target date of 23 September for leaving, and plans to go in convoy with other vehicles.

He explained he would share the driving with Gunter, who is a sign writer and graphic design artist.

In 2022, they delivered thousands of small items, about £10,000 worth of goods, in Gunter's work van to the Ukrainian border, following "fantastic support" in the West Midlands.

"We're making a small difference," Morris added.

He said that an appeal for supplies would probably be launched closer to the planned trip, as they wanted items to be as fresh as possible before their journey.

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