The conflict in Ukraine is never far from the news, and each day another event occurs which brings that conflict sharply into focus. There are lots of volunteers, individuals and businesses helping to support the many aid organisations who are committed to helping Ukraine in its hour of need.
Casus Pax, founded by Holly Tan and Adam McQuire of University Lodge of Liverpool No 4274, have been collecting, distributing and delivering aid directly to Ukraine, with over £750,000 of aid, medical supplies and essential medical equipment delivered to front line services to date. This story details, a delivery of aid, an ambitious and meticulously planned logistical journey, to deliver over four tones of much needed aid, two 4×4 vehicles and five ambulances, in and around Ukraine.
The need for 4×4 vehicles, particularly diesel, is the single identifiable need requested. Road conditions have deteriorated to such a degree that many settlements can only be accessed by off-road capable vehicles. These vehicles are used in many life-saving instances and may make the difference between life and death for civilian populations caught up in the conflict. Ambulances are also in pressing need, the rate of attrition of large ambulances being particularly acute to attack by drone operators as they lack the ability and speed to effectively evade attacks. For this reason, 4×4 vehicles and low square bodied panel vans, make an ideal compromise and can be adapted as small ambulances to enable casualties to be extracted quickly and transferred to larger ambulances for medical teams to perform lifesaving actions whilst en-route to medical facilities.
In this instance, Adam and Holly, met with volunteers from The Big Help Group, a Liverpool community group, who had also been collecting aid for Ukraine and driven a 4×4 vehicle to Harwich Essex, ready for the crossing over to Europe. Driving to Krakow, Poland was the next stage, ready to meet more volunteers who had flown into the airport and there they met more volunteers from the Big Help group, Roy Williams, of Harmonic Lodge No 216, and Dawn from A&B Engineering, a local firm who had provided both funding and logistical support. In parallel, another convoy made its way from the UK for the long trip across Europe, crossing the Ukrainian border at Medyka, and began the long journey south to Chernivtsi. The trip not being totally without incident in that one of the ambulances having suffered mechanical issues during the long journey, was left near Krakow for some attention.
The team had a rendezvous at Mistro Dobra Orphanage complex at Chernitvisi, which is also known as the City of Goodness, where two tonnes of aid was delivered and very gratefully received. Six vehicles then departed for the 925km (approx. 600 miles) journey to Zaporizhia. The journey to the east of the country, ever increases the risk of Russian air and drone strikes, particularly when travelling near to major urban conurbations and cities, with air defences visibly in operation against the ever-present threat of Shahed drones, the convoy arrived safely in Zaporizhia.
Two ambulances (one large and one small) were then delivered the next day to Kharkiv, their original destination of Pokrovsk being deemed too unacceptable a level of risk, particularly in a highly visible large yellow ambulance. The smaller ambulance was very gratefully received, being pressed into immediate service, as the previous evacuation vehicle had been destroyed the night before.
One of the consequences of drone and Shahed activity, is the suspension and jamming of GPS (global positioning satellites) which makes navigation particularly difficult, and so it is not unusual to find the road you are travelling on suddenly jump on the navigation app to a location 20 or 30 miles away (in a field), having to resort to navigating unknown roads by old fashioned map reading. Nevertheless, the team pressed on and safely returned back to Zaporizhzhia having completed their delivery schedule. In the interim, another team of volunteers were arriving in Krakow, Poland, Mike Fox of Adelphi Lodge No 6819 and Albert, a Casus Pax Ambassador met at the airport. After a quick rendezvous they headed by train close to the Polish/Ukrainian border to pick up the ambulance which by now had been repaired and set off on the journey to Lviv, Ukraine.
The border crossing at Medyka, is a strange experience, and all vehicle papers must be stamped at least three times so that the vehicle can be accepted by the Ukrainian authorities. As you can imagine there are lots of paperwork to get through and as the ambulance was also full of aid, inspections too. Having passed through the three checkpoints and making sure each page was stamped at least three times; the ambulance was waived through and the long overnight journey to Lviv began.
In the meantime, the team in Zaporizhzhia were busy with their own schedule delivering another 4×4 vehicle, complete with aid collected by the Big Help Group, in conjunction with the Ukrainian community in Liverpool, including extreme weather uniforms, power solutions, defibrillator and humanitarian supplies. Also delivered was a large quantity of complex trauma and medical supplies, as well as search and rescue equipment, with help from Roy Williams and the staff of Canadian Natural Resources. This vehicle will allow for civilian evacuations in the areas of Orikhiv and Hulyaipole, which are regularly subjected to artillery, drone and missile strikes.
Back in Lviv, Mike and Albert met up with volunteers from Misto Dobra, who had driven up overnight from Chernivtsi, to collect the remaining aid which had been stored in the ambulance, with beds, mattresses, books, clothes, toys and other aid safely transferred from one vehicle to the other, the ambulance was emptied and ready for its trip to Kyiv. Along the way a short detour was made in Lviv to pick up another 4×4 which had also needed some mechanical attention. The two groups then set out to meet up in Kyiv and the journey was largely uneventful albeit a long journey, and all met much later that night for some much-needed rest, ready for the trip the next day to Zaporizhzhia.
Zaporizhzhia city being in close proximation to the front lines it regularly experiences assaults. During the approach, heavy anti-aircraft fire was experienced in close proximity from both sides of the highway, in response to what appeared to be loitering munitions. As the ambulance convoy was a significant visual target,
the pace was increased considerably and approaching Dnipro hydroelectric dam the only available ingress route, a KAB missile impacted a short distance away. Keeping in close contact with each other, the team reached secure accommodation, a short while later although achieving sleep was somewhat harder!
The next day, two ambulances and Casux Pax 4×4 convoy set out to Kramatorsk, the journey was relatively uneventful except for the sight of two large drones flying at altitude overhead towards Dnipro, quite sobering thinking that death and destruction await the end of that flight. The first ambulance was delivered to a search and rescue team in Kramatorsk, along with a quantity of paramedic equipment. The team were very grateful for both the ambulance, aid and just support. They had recently had an ambulance destroyed whilst rescuing a severely wounded elderly lady from near to Chasiv Yar. They were discussing removing the reflective panels from the ambulance and painting it green so they could use it as soon as possible. When asked one of the team, a female paramedic about her experiences, and she pointed to a patch on her arm which said: “Fear God and girls from Ukraine” which made us laugh, very inspiring and typically understated how brave the work is that they do every day and night.
Leaving Kramatorsk, the team travelled to Izyum, in the 4×4 and the remaining ambulance. The route is subject to regular assault and driving hazards, and after a haphazard journey of slow manoeuvring in the dark it was delivered to a volunteer paramedic team. They will modify the vehicle so that it can improve its robustness in the face of regular first-person view drone attacks, where the drone is flown directly into the ambulance with attached explosives in the hope of killing or injuring the driver and occupants. Again, the volunteer paramedics were deeply grateful for the ambulance and medical kit, and with calls of Slava Ukraini, the team departed for Kharkiv for some well-earned rest.
The team travelled back to Zaporizhzhia early next morning to keep an appointment and hold a speaking club and education outreach event at a local secondary school and later in a Polytechnic in Zaporizhzhia, held by the academic outreach team of Casus Pax. An incoming KAB (aerial bomb) alert resulted in the evacuation of the whole school to the basement. It was quite sobering to see an educational establishment hold lessons in the basement of a school; a reminder of daily life for schoolchildren. The speaking event was highly informative and gave an insight into the daily life and aspirations of young Ukranians, nearly all know of or have lost family or close family members to the war. There is a museum in the school honouring their sacrifice and memory. At the school, Adam and Holly were presented with a small wooden trophy, which showcased a 2p piece which had been found under the seat of a previously donated vehicle by a student’s whose father had taken possession of the vehicle, and wanted it to present it to them as a token of their thanks for the work that they do.
A visit to Zaporizhzhia paediatric hospital took place to organise the purchase and delivery of an electrocautery machine. On arrival at the hospital, it was with some surprise that all the children’s beds were pushed together in corridors and nurse station areas. On enquiring why that was so, and the wards were empty, the reply was that the risk of explosions and injury from flying glass, meant that the corridors are the safest place and so the wards with windows were unused. The purchase of this life saving kit and ancillary tools being made possible through funding from A&B Engineering and another organisation.
The delivery of the final vehicle, a small ambulance, was completed at Mykolaiv to the commanding staff of Kherson police. The city of Kherson being under such constant drone attack, that a sign written ambulance would almost certainly be spotted, targeted and destroyed on entering the city and so the decision was taken to deliver it safely to Mykolaiv. This will be the sole ambulance used for this purpose to enter Kharkiv city and allow for high speed and agility rescue services.
A fitting end to the ‘Ambo Run’, and a testament to the amazing team of Casus Pax and the 27 British volunteers who between them travelled over 27,000Kms to deliver seven vehicles and four tonnes of aid. In April 2025, Casus Pax are back in Ukraine and are busy planning their next trip. If you would like to support them, you can support their JustGiving page to help purchase and fund the delivery of vehicles just like these, by 
Adam and Holly would also like to thank the many lodges that have already donated, including Adelphi Lodge No 6819, Cecil Lodge No 3274, Harmonic Lodge No 216 and Prince of Architects No 4188 to name but a few of the lodges, and they are grateful for all the support.