DEFYING RUSSIA ..WITH LOVE
Jeeps for Peace set for largest convoy into war
BIG hearted Scots have given more aid to war-torn Ukraine than any other country, a charity has claimed.
Jeeps for Peace founder Stuart McKenzie has said that Scotland is now one of the biggest providers of aid in Europe to Ukraine through the convoy system.
The charity, along with fellow Scottish charity, Pick Ups for Peace, founded by Mark Laird, have taken around £5million worth of vital supplies to Ukraine since war broke out in February 2022.
The two charities have delivered more than 500 car loads since the Russian invasion. Later this month another giant aid convoy is set to leave Scotland to provide li fe- saving humanitarian aid.
It is the latest and biggest mercy mission for Stuart and will be one of the single biggest aid efforts in Scotland to Ukraine since the conflict began.
Stuart, 53, said: “Scotland is punching way above its weight in what it is doing for Ukraine and should be celebrated.
“It is a fantastic result and dwarfs anything any other country in Europe has done.”
Stuart emigrated from Helensburgh, Argyll, in 1994 to Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
He founded Jeeps for Peace to deliver aid to the country the same month the war began.
The latest convoy of 35 vehicles and 50 drivers will set off later from Edinburgh to Ukraine travelling via Newcastle, Germany and Poland with vital supplies.
The army of volunteers will carry a massive aid consignment – including food, children’s clothing and medical equipment – to the city of Kolomyya. From there supplies will be distributed by the Ukrainian army to their soldiers and the civilian population. The jeeps, which are also given to the military, are then used to evacuate the wounded from the frontline.
All the vehicles and aid are donated by members of the Scottish public.
The convoy to Kolomyya will also include several ambulances and other rescue vehicles.
The aid vehicles will also be carrying generators, spare vehicle parts, spades and even drones.
Among the convoy party will be mechanic Adam Ennis from Biggar, Lanarkshire, who has been fighting with the Ukrainian army for the past two years and has returned home. Also participating will be an 80-yearold retired schoolteacher.
Stuart, who was forced to flee Kyiv when the Russians began bombing the city two years ago, said: “Once we arrive in Ukraine we will spend a couple of nights there before returning by bus to the UK.
“We will meet the army who will update us on the situation to date. There will also be the chance to visit Ukrainian war graves to show people the reality of the war.”
The last convoy was in November when 25 jeeps took a large consignment of aid to Ukraine. After Stuart arrives in Kolomyya he will be leaving the group to head for 10 days to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, where he has a home.
He has talks planned with the Ukrainian government to provide one million doses of a cannabis-based medicine to help both the military and traumatised civilians deal with the effects of PTSD.
He set up home in neighbouring Poland before moving to Edinburgh last August with his Ukrainian wife Lena and two teenage boys.
From his base in the capital he has continued to operate his pharmaceutical products business Reakiro, which supplies stores in the UK.
Scotland is punching above its weight on its support
STUART McKENZIE ON HIS PRIDE AT DONATIONS