'They painted flowers around the bullet holes': Stamford man's "harrowing" trip to Ukraine
Dan Zenchuk's donating temporary housing to a Ukrainian family
A Stamford man's safely back home after his "harrowing" but "fantastic" experience volunteering in Kyiv and Lviv.
British-Ukrainian Dan Zenchuk spent last year raising funds for - and sending aid to - the Ukrainian military and citizens displaced by war.
He recently returned from an 8-day trip helping out local communities on the frontline, and has been sharing with us the reality of life there.
'The people that live in Moschun, near Kyiv, had painted flowers around the bullet holes to decorate their fence to make it look a bit better - so that was a bit strange.'
'They're just finding the remains of missiles and seeing the damage to people's homes, even war monuments.'
A warm welcome
Dan said the Ukrainians he met were pleased to see foreigners like him crossing the border to help out:
'It's such a morale booster for them to see foreigners still going into the country to help them. We were checked by (Ukrainian) soldiers, and it's disbelief from them that we're willingly going into a warzone to go and help and do what we can.'
The reality of war
Frequent air-raids sounded while Dan was out there which, to his surprise, became somewhat 'normal':
'We had a number of air-raid alerts, we'd just got there one night and went to a restaurant when the alarm went off. We got moved, food taken away, and took cover in the basement.'
'People carry on as normal, in Kyiv, people did go to the shelters but not in any mass numbers - it's almost become a part of everyday life that they've got used to. '
'It very quickly became the same for us. After you'd heard the siren and watched everyone else's reaction, you just kind of get on with your day.'
A successful trip
Despite initial concern over 'getting in the way' of local volunteering efforts, Dan said he had a "fantastic" experience and hopes to return soon:
'I've got a 4x4 pick up truck that I don't use at my company, that I plan to give to the Ukrainian military. We want to drive that to Lviv at the nearest opportunity.'
'I also plan on buying a temporary housing unit for a family in Moschun, and once that's installed I plan to go there to meet that family.'