A New Zealander helping deliver aid in Ukraine says swarms of drones have changed the war beyond recognition, and humanitarian workers are increasingly targets.
Tenby Powell – founder of charity Kiwi KARE – returned to Ukraine in July, and what he found was a completely different war.
“Almost unrecognisable. And unrecognisable because of the proliferation of drones. It’s just been an exponential increase in drone activity,” Powell said.
“While it was present to a degree late last year, now they’re everywhere – and often in swarms.”
He said the drones carried “many kilograms of high explosives” and as a result could inflict “incredible damage”.
Their increasing presence had made Kiwi KARE’s work – delivering aid and evacuating patients inside Ukraine’s “fortress cities” – increasingly difficult and dangerous, he said.
The fortress cities in eastern Ukraine form the country’s frontline defences against Russia.
Powell said in its most recent mission, a truck – funded by New Zealanders – was forced to drive 140km off-road just to avoid drones, and another 40km under drone nets.
He said the Ukrainian military was laying out kilometres of nets as a last-ditch protective measure – but it wasn’t always enough, and aid trucks were proving to be “prime targets” for drone attacks.
“We’ve had two ambulances lost. One in Kherson, which is in the south, the driver is alive, but still in hospital nearly two months later.
“We’ve had another ambulance hit and probably going to be written off in Kramatorsk, which is one of these so-called fortress cities in the Donetsk area.
“Humanitarian aid workers today, are equally a target. Often the FPV (first-person view) drones are searching specifically for vehicles that they assess as… either doing evacuations, like ambulances or delivering humanitarian aid.
“It’s high-risk work.”
Powell said they were mitigating the risk as best they could, with ballistic-proof protective gear and electronics that scrambled drones, but there was no doubt that those delivering aid were under the threat of death.
“The reality of course is if a large drone hits a vehicle, that [gear] won’t save you and there’s many people who are missing limbs.”
He said it was impossible in such an environment, not to be scared at times.
“Anybody that says they haven’t had a few frights, is lying.”
Powell said the drones had resulted in a significant reduction in aid getting through, and in the absence of new ammunition and equipment delivered to Ukraine, anticipated a spike in evacuations this coming winter.
Despite the challenges, his team was ramping up production on their Heat-for-Health initiative – turning old electrical water cylinders into stoves and water boilers.
Powell says many of the recycled heating and cooking units are helping older women living alone in Ukraine’s “fortress cities”.
Powell said the unusable cylinders were collected from all over Kyiv and recycled into lightweight heating and cooking systems.
These were delivered to people – mainly older women – in “fortress cities” who were continuing to eek out a living, despite the constant shelling, he said.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the devastation under which they live,” Powell said.
He said Russia’s attacks on power and water infrastructure increased as the months got colder, meaning the units were lifesavers in Ukraine’s harsh winters.
Production was initially seasonal, Powell said, but now it was all year round.
“We’ve done over 5000 and we’ve got requests for thousands more.”
He said donations had a tangible humanitarian impact, and each stove contained a small plaque with the words, ‘With love from New Zealand,’ alongside a map of the country.
“So, our small country on the other side of the world is becoming very well-known for providing incredible support – including hope.”
By Mary Argue of rnz.co.nz
