No . 134
The Trusty Servant
The Kharkiv & Przemyśl Project
Conrad Griffin ( I , 04-09 ) writes about his trip to Ukraine and the work of Alex Thomas ( I , 04-09 ), who has been coordinating humanitarian aid in the conflict zone since February .
Bulletproof Vests & Hula Shirts “ That won ’ t do much good if you get caught in an air strike ,” Alex commented .
He pointed to the bulletproof vest I was wearing . It suddenly felt like a ridiculous proposition if facing a wayward missile . No more ridiculous , though , than the floral hula shirt I was wearing beneath it , hoping to break the ice with the famously stony-faced Ukrainian border guards by telling them we were headed for a beach holiday in the Crimea . At least this latter plan turned out to be sound .
It was early morning on Friday 2 September in Przemyśl , a small border town in south-eastern Poland . Alex Thomas ( I , 2004-09 ) was helping me and my co-pilot Oliver pack our
An ice-breaking shirt ? ambulance at his charity ’ s warehouse , ready to cross the border into Western Ukraine .
The 8-hour trip to the Ukrainian city of Lviv would be the last leg of the journey for us ; Alex would then take over and drive the significantly more perilous route directly to Kharkiv on the eastern frontline . The last time he was there he had been woken at night by the sound of the neighbouring apartment block taking direct hits . The next morning , the bodies of its residents , ejected from their beds by explosions , still lay uncovered in the street .
The Kharkiv & Przemyśl Project Alex first arrived on the Polish- Ukrainian border in February , days after Russia invaded . It was meant to be a one-off trip to transport humanitarian supplies , but eight months later he is still there , having founded his own charity , the Kharkiv and Przemysl Project ( or “ KHARPP ”).
KHARPP ’ s mission is two-fold : to provide newly arrived refugees in Przemyśl with translation services , food , accommodation , and travel options for their onward journey to safety , and to organize periodic supply runs to frontline towns in eastern Ukraine .
The latter part of KHARPP ’ s mission is very dangerous . To date , Alex and his team have delivered 10 ex-NHS ambulances filled with supplies to Kharkiv . Sadly , the need remains great – first responders are deliberately targeted by Russian artillery , and families who lack the resources to leave are often stranded in villages without food , running water , heating , or electricity .
Alex Thomas and Conrad Griffin ( Both I , 04-09 )
Alex ’ s connection to the conflict stems from the considerable time he has spent living in the region . We studied Russian together under Dr . Fennell , and while my passion for the language fell to one side , Alex finished a PhD in Russian theatre at Oxford University in 2021 . When war broke out , his friends in St Petersburg and Moscow were silenced by the regime , but he knew he had the luxury of being able to help . Ukraine and Russia were for many years considered sibling nations and have significant cultural overlap . To him the conflict is tragic fratricide .
When I heard what Alex was doing , I was impressed and reached out to see how I could help . Our expedition came together quickly . On 2 August I launched a charitable appeal to friends and colleagues in California , where I live , with the stated intention of buying an ex-NHS ambulance in the UK and driving it non-stop across Europe into Ukraine . Exactly one month later , I was on the ground .
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