My name is Viktor Zaichenko, I was born and raised in beautiful Ukraine. I took my degree in the gorgeous city of Kyiv, a city that is very close to my heart as it was the place where I met my dear uni friends. I moved to the United Kingdom in 2001 but never lost touch with my friends back home, and these same friends are now involved with organising the evacuation of civilians caught up in this atrocity. Me and my wife Lucy are helping with the war efforts in any possible way. Not long ago, my friend Ura asked me if I would be able to help them with 4x4 pick ups that can be used in search and rescue missions to evacuate civilians in the most dangerous and difficult areas to reach..

Lucy and I are going ahead and buying the first 4x4 truck with our own money, to send as soon as possible. It will be loaded with whatever supplies are on the “most needed" list, and once received at the border, the vehicle will be collected by members of the rescue teams and utilised to help civilians trapped in the active combat zones.

It is getting more and more critical to evacuate civilians and more and more dangerous to get to the hot spots in normal vehicles, as the enemy has been shooting at any vehicles, including those clearly carrying children. There are reports that food, water and medical supplies are running out, and that some children are drinking water from radiators because there is none left in the taps.

I am a bee farmer who proudly produces food for the UK in the form of honey and I believe I am an ok citizen as I pay my taxes year after year and although I have never done any fund raising in my life, when my brave friends ask I cannot say no. They are risking their lives to save others. But I am also asking you to donate your money for this cause too. To save one persons life is a profound act, and I know these vehicles are desperately needed right now in Ukraine and they will directly save lives.

My parents have decided to stay in Ukraine and my brother, the next day after the war started, joined the Territorial Army, he believes that freedom is worth fighting for. My family are eligible for visas to come to the UK but the roads are so dangerous that the risk is too great. There are many others in the same situation: trapped and running low on critical supplies. But with the help of our 4x4s more people can be saved.

It is very painful to watch my country being destroyed, but I see that to win this war every one of us has to do what we can do best, and even if my vehicle saves one life I am winning. The destruction of Ukraine is on a scale none of us ever imagined could happen, and the speed at which it has happened is still difficult to fathom. We do realise that our attempts to help may be just a drop in the ocean in this appalling situation, but a single drop is still better than no drop at all.

We are immensely grateful to have the support of our friends here in the UK: Jeremy, Lisa and the wonderful team at Diddly Squat who have promised to help us with sourcing the vehicles that we need, and maybe find us some brave drivers who will deliver them over the Ukranian border too.

If you would like to keep up to date with what we have already done with the money raised, and to see our future development, you can find us on instagram @honeymakers_uk and Facebook @honeymakers_uk.