EastLancs4Ukraine: Brave Burnley man delivering aid to soldiers on frontlines of Ukraine war and fundraising for mission to clear booby traps

The Burnley volunteer was left scared for his life while delivering aid to Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines last month.

But it did not stop Harley Whitehead from flying to the war-torn country yesterday to help equip its army with bomb disposal suits and 45 radios.

The 33-year-old, who set up charity EastLancs4Ukraine with his sister Kimberley Whitehead and now runs it with fellow volunteer Kara Smith, is fundraising £7,000 to undergo mine-clearance training to help dispose of deadly devices left behind by the Russian army.

Recalling his last terrifying trip to Ukraine, which he undertook with Kara, Harley said: “We were only at the hotel for 15 minutes when we heard an explosion.

"I told Kara to move away from the window quickly. We went into the bathroom, then there was another explosion, which blew the windows out. It was literally across the road. Cars also had their windows blown out.

"I said, ‘Run to the basement’.

“We waited for four hours as explosions were going off. We felt shaken for a few days afterward.”

Harley knows the dangerous reality of his mission, having been at gunpoint during a visit to Ukraine last March.

But having worked there as an English teacher since 2019, he feels connected to the Eastern European country. So when the war kicked off while he was on a four-day visit to England, he decided to return to Ukraine with a vehicle full of medical supplies.

"There was a lot of tension because it was the start of the war. Everyone was on alert. I got to a checkpoint, and [some Ukrainians] wanted to look in the back of my van.

"I could hear them saying, 'This is a big problem for you’.

"They had guns pointing at me. I had a dictionary in the back as I’d been studying Russian because it is the first language in East Ukraine where I lived.

"They were screaming, saying I was an insurgent. They had a problem with Russian saboteurs. They were speaking to me in Russian, but I had forgotten it.

"My friend had a gun pointed at the back of his head. He couldn’t move and had to look forward. I had a shotgun pointed at my stomach.

"They found drawings from when I was studying construction at university. They thought they were bomb [designs].

"They had guns pointed at us for 45 minutes but eventually calmed down. The secret police came and examined my laptop. We had to wait three hours to get our phones back. It was scary.”

Harley returned in July to take aid to a hospital for children near Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

"There was no power [at the hospital]. Those children had never left the hospital in their whole life because of something to do with the Chornobyl disaster [a nuclear accident]. I had to bring some stuff from London because the children would die [without it].

"I got to the last checkpoint, and some Ukrainians told me not to go down this road because there were Russians there. Nobody was around when I got to this hospital and unloaded the medication. But when I got back in my van, I started getting shelled.”

Having helped civilians caught up in the crisis, Harley returns every two weeks to deliver supplies to the Ukrainian army, which is “in such big trouble” because of communication problems. He also teaches untrained civilians who have joined the fight how to use first aid kits.

“A lot of normal guys have been dragged into it. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re not soldiers. And on the frontline, conditions are awful, with temperatures of minus 16. It’s freezing.”

EastLancs4Ukraine also provides food to the many British soldiers helping to fight against Russia.

“There has been a problem with food for the UK army. There were some poisonings the other week – poisonings to kill - due to compromised security, and 40 soldiers died in one day. Since then, the lads cannot eat the food out there.

"It’s a funny place. You don’t know which side people are on. Two English lads gave two bags of food to an old lady. As she walked to the bottom of the street, she texted their positions to Russians. The Ukrainian police grabbed her and put her in a van. They told the English lads she was “trying to get them killed.”

Recalling the devastation in the country, Harley said the Russian army “put landmines under dead bodies, even under their soldiers. Russians will booby-trap everything before they leave [an area].

“We have seen teddy bears and dead bodies booby-trapped. Four people died [following explosions] in the past few days. Even in the Kyiv region, people are still living alongside the mines.

“There are British lads who dispose of mines out there, but there is a shortage of technicians to diffuse them, and the country is so big."

Harley, who plans to undergo mine-clearing training in May in Kosovo, added: “Even if the war against Russia finished today, the war against mines could last for decades.”

To donate to EastLancs4Ukraine, please visit https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/help-eastlancs4ukraine-with-mine-clearance-school/backers?fbclid=IwAR3YHQe6_OU7xKrRPpiMMUWyiM4OgzZZPFFIiWsDzpzF4xoyoa8CXDXHgdU#start or www.paypal.com/paypalme/EastLancs4Ukraine1

For more information about the charity’s work, search for it on Facebook or contact eastlancs4ukraine@gmail.com