Hertfordshire farmer on a mission to help the war effort in Ukraine
6th April 2023
Charles Thompson, who tenant farms 450 acres of arable land near Hitchin, spoke to Farmers Guide about his recent trips to deliver pickup trucks and supplies to the front line in Ukraine, and his mission to find more vehicles to help the war effort.
Volunteering initiative Car for Ukraine, founded by Ivan Oleksii, sources and retrofits pickup trucks to support the war effort in Ukraine.
When Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago, British farmer Charles Thompson, 69, knew he wanted to take direct action to support Ukraine – which eventually led him to Ivan Oleksii, who founded the volunteering initiative Car for Ukraine.
Made up of over 50 volunteers from across Europe, including the UK, Car for Ukraine retrofits vehicles for the Ukrainian army, using donated cars or raising funds to buy and modify the vehicles for battle. Since it was founded in March 2022, over 200 vehicles have been delivered to the frontline, worth roughly £1.3 million ($1.7m).
One donor recently gave a nearly new 2021 Ford Ranger with only 2,000 miles on the clock, Ivan says.
Over 1,065 lives have been saved evacuating wounded soldiers as well as through the provision of armoured vehicles, protecting soldiers from mortar shell damage.
Whilst the initiative has a network of volunteers in Europe who can collect and deliver donated vehicles, some choose to make the trip to Ukraine themselves. In fact, one volunteer has now made over 80 trips to the country.
Pictured is Car for Ukraine founder Ivan Oleksii (front row, centre), farmer Charles Thompson (back row, third from the left) and his brother Henry (back row, far left).
Heading to Ukraine
Having learned about Ivan’s work, Farmers Guide reader Charles bought a Mitsubishi L200 pick-up specifically to donate, and left his Hertfordshire farm for a three-day drive to Lviv, Ukraine with his brother, making up a convoy of five cars – three donated and two purchased by Car for Ukraine.
Among other supplies he also transported three donated generators, crucial at the time given the colder weather and intermittent access to electricity in Ukraine due to heavy Russian shelling.
Having arrived in Lviv earlier this year, Charles and his brother Henry saw the workshops where volunteer mechanics carry out repairs, install armour and add machine gun turrets to donated vehicles.
Describing the experience as “rewarding”, Charles subsequently bought a Nissan pickup and made a second trip to Lviv this month. He is hoping to encourage others to donate to the cause and has two more Mitsubishi L200s to deliver in the near future.
Pictured is the Mitsubishi L200 pickup donated by Charles Thompson, before and after it was retrofitted for the Ukrainian army.
Supporting the war effort
Originally from Kherson, southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russia in March 2022, Ivan wanted to use his skills to help the war effort, including de-occupying Kherson where his family still resides.
Working in IT sales and partnerships, Ivan communicates with people around the world and felt he could utilise these skills to bring help to Ukrainian soldiers from across Europe.
Now based in Lviv, western Ukraine, he set up Car for Ukraine shortly after war was declared, when he realised the army had great need of vehicles. Car for Ukraine arranges the vehicle collection and/or travel paperwork and once vehicles arrive in Ukraine they are retrofitted in the workshop. Whilst mostly needed for battle, they may also be used for transporting supplies or carrying out evacuations.
Car for Ukraine recently hosted visitors from six different countries, who travelled to Lviv with vehicles to donate.
How to help Car for Ukraine
Whilst most vehicles are accepted, they need to be reliable and some preferred brands and models include the Mitsubishi L200 that Charles donated, Ford Rangers, the Nissan Navara (preferably not the D40 body type) and Toyota Hilux.
In addition to the vehicles, much needed supplies include major trauma first aid kits, warm clothing, tinned food, generators, drones and thermo-vision binoculars.
This month, Car for Ukraine has also launched a new project, the ‘People’s Ramstein‘ – which is a reference to the Ramstein Air Base in Germany where NATO countries meet to discuss the support required for Ukraine. Car for Ukraine is looking to raise $50,000 (approx. £40,157) to cover the cost of retrofitting 25 cars for the frontline.
As well as donating money to the cause it’s now possible to donate a car on the Car for Ukraine website. For more information visit www.car4ukraine.com/donate-car
