Edition 25: Ukraine Mission
Since the war began, Ukraine Focus has delivered over 300 ambulances into the heart of a warzone, vehicles that save lives under fire. This was Mission 12. My first Mission.
The First Messages
The first message came in after I announced the mission on Slack to the Group Of Humans, and to my and my business’s followers on LinkedIn and X.
“You’re driving what to where?”
A text from one of my best friends, followed by “Well, take care you loon” set my mind at rest.
My first donation was from one of the HUMANS, Kerry. Then another from one of my golfing buddies Andy and then I started to lose count, I saw the one from Rick as he also added a lovely comment, he is my business partner in my other business SuperHuman Partners. And another.
Before I knew it, the mission had already begun, not in a convoy, but in pings of support, in the bizarre energy of committing to something that, by all rational measures, is a terrible idea.
A few weeks later, I was standing in the cold with a team of six, part of the SUV convoy setting off from Leeds. The real scale of the operation stretched beyond us; 18 ambulances were making their own way from France, and we’d only meet up with them at the border into Ukraine in Poland. Our SUVs weren’t just for support; they were frontline vehicles, essential because Russian forces target ambulances, knowing they carry the wounded. By disguising medical transport, these vehicles stood a better chance of reaching those in need.
We were about to drive these 20-year-old Land Rover SUV’s across five European borders, through warzones, past the limits of what should be normal, and deliver them where they were desperately needed.
Day 1 - Home to Hull (227 Miles in 7 hours)
Leaving Home
Leaving wasn’t easy. I was heading to a war zone. The final hugs lingered longer than usual, the looks from my wife and kids held an unspoken weight. They were worried, and I had to put them at ease, even though I had no confidence that the words I told them were true. But I said them anyway.
Final checks. Long, wordless hugs. Then I was off.
As I rode up on the train, messages rolled in. Group Of Humans Slack, LinkedIn, texts. A steady hum of support that reminded me I wasn’t doing this alone. The HUMANS came through in force. Duncan, Jason, Patrick, Paul, Joe, John, Lauren, Margeigh, Gina, and Mike, each one leaving their mark. A fist bump, a heart, a cheer. Small but meaningful gestures that reminded me this wasn’t just my journey. It belonged to everyone who believed in standing up and doing something, whether donating, volunteering, or simply refusing to look away.
The Journey Begins
The SUV convoy made it from Leeds to the overnight ferry departing Hull in time, the first real checkpoint in a long journey ahead. A moment of relief, a pause before the road stretched out in front of us once more. Fellow HUMAN Paul chimed in on Slack.
“Inside the speed limit?!?! Go well, mate, thinking of you all on that journey. ✊”
I assured him there wasn’t much risk of breaking any records.
“It’s 20 years old—it ain’t going much quicker than 70. It’s actually the same model I had when I moved to the USA in 2005.”
Paul wasn’t convinced.
“If anyone can get 80 out of it, it’s you! Safe travels.”
These little moments, jokes about speed limits, kept my spirits up. The mission was serious, but the camaraderie made it bearable.
The 12 hour ferry crossing to Rotterdam was the first real pause. A chance to sit, have a pint, and get to know the other Volunteer Drivers properly. It was a mix of veterans and first-timers. Ukraine Focus Founder Brock Bierman, Fred - adventurer, explorer, bon vivant, contractor, developer, and filmmaker. Steve, whose family foundation had supported both this mission and orphanages in Ukraine. Both had done multiple runs.
Then there were the rookies. Pete, a maths teacher from Leeds. John, a friend of Pete’s American wife. Kevin, a former US Black Hawk helicopter captain now running an energy business. We were also joined by Chantal, our fearless mission photographer, capturing every step of the journey.
Stories were traded over drinks, a bit of gallows humor creeping in. Different paths, same destination.
Day 2 - Rotterdam to Leipzig (451 Miles in 9 hours)
Rotterdam came early the next morning. The car was running fine, but the ferry staff kept pointing out something hanging off the front. Not critical, just cosmetic, but enough that I made a quick ‘modification’ more about stopping people from pointing it out than anything else.
By lunchtime, Düsseldorf. HUMAN Duncan messaged on Slack,
“You’re half an hour away from me!”
A reminder of how distributed the HUMANS are around the world.
“Will pop in,” I replied.
The road ahead was long, but moments like this, friends along the way, kept it from feeling like just a mission. At one point, I worried I’d played this up too much, that maybe it was more a road trip than a mission. That changed fast.
Somewhere along the way, Fred and I found ourselves separated from the convoy.
"For reasons that must remain forever obscure," Fred later wrote, "British entrepreneur Rob Noble and I became the Group of Two Humans, a nod to Rob’s high-end British Design firm."
Fred’s Facebook post he shared made me laugh at the bar, we had unknowingly been titled the naughty boys.
I think it only fair to apprise you of my post…. “For reasons that must remain forever obscure, British entrepreneur Rob Noble and I became separated from the rest of the convoy today. Our independent echelon of two vehicles was rebranded the "Group of 2 Humans" in a nod to Rob's high-end British Design firm "Group Of Humans". We arrived in Leipzig well ahead of our companions.
After we arrived, the scent of scorched rubber drifted across the parking lot of our hotel and the air was filled with the aroma of spent jet fuel. Rob alighted from his vehicle sporting a “one thousand mile stare”, muttering something about how he “loved the smell of jet fuel in the evening”….
Meanwhile, hours behind us in the “Heart of Darkness” that Rob & I navigated with such verve and aplomb, Brock struggles to hold the tattered convoy together. As I write this, Brock is doubtless lifting his sweat streaked face and heavy lidded eyes to peer at the Stygian darkness of the European skies while whispering “The Horror…. The horror….”
For my part, I just ordered an “Old Fashioned” in a smoky glass tumbler and I will soon raise a toast to this wild and wonderful adventure that we call life…. 😀
Day 3 - Leipzig to Rzeszow (492 Miles in 11 hours)
6:30am start and a snowy morning. As the miles ticked by, so did the temperature. Crossing into Poland, the car heater gave up. I posted in the HUMANS Slack for comedic effect; scarf, gloves, and woolly hat deployed, zero degrees outside, but the engine was sound, so what more could I need?
HUMAN Sean, apparently a closet Land Rover whisperer, dropped in Slack a full step-by-step guide on how to bleed the air out of the system.
“Having owned many Land Rovers, you learn how to fix these things on the fly.”
Detailed, methodical—probably useful if I had any interest in pulling over and attempting a DIY fix. I didn’t. But the fact that he took the time meant something. Gina Alvarez summed it up:
“Had not pegged you as the emergency mechanic—love it!”
My car was an icebox. No heating, no mercy. But she never quit, and I respected that.
The Spotify playlist became my fuel, keeping my mind alert on the long drives and giving me a reason to move and warm up when the cold crept in. Some tracks were pure adrenaline, others hit at just the right moment of exhaustion. It became a game; guessing which song had been sent by family, fellow HUMANS friends, or donors.
Tracks that I recalled at key moments on the journey
And the colour red by Underworld
Put your hands up for Detroit by Fedde Le Grand
Cirrus by Bonobo
Not like Us by Kendrick Lamar
Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads
The Payback by James brown
Cigarette daydreams by Cage The Elephant
The Beach by Wolf Alice
Clearest Blue by CHVRCHES
You & me by Meute
Kool aid by Royel Otis
Mafia by Harjas Dhalwali, Indomi
Drug Dealing Pagans by Kneecap
Miami by Baxter Dury
Favourite - Fontaines DC (I knew that was from my eldest daughter Ava)
Beautiful Girl - INXS (and that had to be the wife)
I was first to the hotel again, this time without Fred, though as I pointed out, this was less about speed and more about a highly trained bladder. It had become a game: who could last the longest without stopping?
My Tuesday and Thursday training at the pubs over the years had paid off and I pulled ahead with a comfortable 30-minute lead.
Day 4 - Rzeszow to Lviv (110 Miles in 8 hours)
Crossing the border
We had been advised by a customs broker to go straight to the border, where we had help with the processing. Even with assistance, it still took an age as the forms contained errors across multiple vehicles.
About 3 hours into the wait in the freezing cold, I was going through my very low provisions at this point when I remembered my wife had given me a big bar of Fruit & Nut, I rummaged through my bag in the back and found it, best tasting Fruit & Nut bar of my life. I also spent time watching the TV series The Bear something she had been bugging me about for a couple of years, saying I would love it, she wasn't wrong.
After all the bureaucracy and hours sitting in the freezing cold, this tiny piece of paper was my entry ticket to Ukraine.
I crossed over and updated the HUMANS on Slack.
“Now Ukraine side.”
Adrian Barrow messaged: “Noble by name. Noble by nature.”
Lviv: A City That Refused to Stop
When we arrived it became very obvious very quickly that Lviv was alive. Shops open, bars buzzing, people going about their day as if a war wasn’t raging just a few hundred miles away. It felt like any other European city until I noticed the roads, cracked and potholed, the obvious signs of dilapidation in the buildings, and the way people carried themselves, a quiet determination woven into every step.
Then my bandwidth dropped. My navigation stopped. And at that exact moment, I got separated from the convoy.
No WhatsApp. No data. Just me, an SUV, and a city I’d never been to.
I tried my wife. The call went through. Relief, but also panic. I barked instructions.
“Call EE, figure out why my data’s dead, do it now.”
She reminded me I had two digital SIMs. I fumbled to switch over, parked in a dark side street, heart pounding. After what felt like an eternity, data kicked in. Messages flooded in. A flurry of WhatsApp updates, and then out of my rear-view mirror, the beaming smile of Steve.
Thirty minutes of pure panic, cold air, dimly lit streets, the quiet hum of a city carrying on while I was suddenly off-grid. A brutal lesson in the reality of where I was.
That night at our hotel, all the volunteer drivers finally dined together, just as I was starting to let my guard down, Brock stood up, and the room quieted.
He spoke about the journey, about why we were all here, and then turned to me. He talked about my contributions, about the effort that had gone into getting us to this point, about the mission beyond just the miles we had driven. His words carried weight, and I felt it in my chest. Then Fred chimed in, adding his own warm words, weaving in humor and sincerity in equal measure.
It was emotional. A moment I hadn’t expected, but one that hit home.
It wasn’t about the certificate in my hands, but the weight behind it. A gesture of appreciation from the people we had come to help. A moment that took me by surprise, left me struggling for words. I wasn’t here for recognition, but standing there, I felt the enormity of it.
It read:
“In recognition of outstanding service to the people of Ukraine during wartime. With unwavering dedication and true enduring friendship between Ukraine and the United States in the war for freedom & liberty.”
I lifted the certificate, nodded, and muttered something about how this wasn’t about me, but about all of us. The room clapped. The moment passed. We went back to our drinks and our stories, but something had shifted. The mission felt bigger than just delivering vehicles. It was about solidarity, about showing up, about proving that people still care.
Day 5- Lviv to Kyiv (335 Miles in 7.5 hours)
Our SUV team voted to get off early, mainly due to the fact I had lobbied them all about my team Liverpool playing Newcastle in a cup final later that day and I had hopes we might be able to make it on time. The road ahead was said to be one of the less challenging we had faced to date.
It was about -8 and starting to snow again when we assembled at the hotel gate. Having had the worst night of the trip, the bed wasn’t great and I couldn’t turn off the aircon which was set to tropical, I was operating on about 3 hours sleep.
After seven and a half hours on the road, we arrived in Kyiv. Like Lviv, the city carried on as normal, but the scars were there. The signs had been removed or made unreadable during the Battle for Kyiv to confuse Russian invaders, and the odd building, still unrepaired, bore the marks of combat.
Mission Accomplished: The Vehicle Delivered
The main objective was delivering the vehicle safely. Mission complete. The car was parked in its designated bay, soon to be loaded with supplies and driven towards the frontline. It was no longer just a vehicle, it was a lifeline.
We had also made it in time for kick off and after a few hours welcome rest and even time for a bath I met up with the team and we headed to the bar the hotel suggested would show the game.
It wasn’t Liverpools day but it didn’t matter really, we enjoyed the beers and the rest of the evening popping into join up with the organised dinner with the rest of the volunteers after.
By the time I got back to the room I was going to sleep well for sure. Albeit a little too well as I found out the next morning I slept through the night, missing the air raid sirens, and not joining the rest of them in the bunker. Turns out, my fellow final-attending teammates did the same.
But the journey was not over. We had some meets set up and I still had to get back.
Day 6 - Kyiv to Warsaw (430 Miles in 15 Hours)
Our first meeting was to honour a Ukrainian soldier who was a friend of many of the Ukraine Focus team. He lost his life saving the men in his platoon on his 25th birthday. His name was Serhiy, a young, respected political leader with a future. Brock and the team had put funds into building a memorial and a playground at the school his kids attended.
A special guest attended: former President Petro Poroshenko, who was in office when the Russians took Crimea. He gave a powerful and emotional speech to those gathered, Serhiy’s mum, his widow and daughter, the school kids, and local media. He spoke of courage, hope, and what it means to truly serve.
Shaking hands with former President Petro Poroshenko, who gifted me a combat patch from his foundation, a Ukrainian tradition that warriors share was an honour.
At the Wall of the Fallen, a massive tribute listed thousands who had died fighting the Russian invaders. It was impossible to walk past it and not feel the weight of sacrifice.
Later, Steve took me to the outdoor war memorial by the three main churches, where destroyed Russian tanks lined the square, their twisted metal a silent testament to Ukraine’s resistance.
The Night Train to Warsaw: A Lesson in Patience
Leaving Ukraine was anything but straightforward. Military officers boarded the train, took our passports, and I sat in silence for 40 minutes, trying not to think what would happen if my passport didn't come back. Then came a two-hour wait for clearance. Then Poland. Wash, rinse, repeat.
I booked out a private cabin for peace, but peace was relative. Inside, it was an oven. Outside, minus six degrees. Dinner was two packs of Quavers and a bottle of Chablis. Sleep? Not a chance.
That night, I checked the air raid map we all relied on lit up again. A reminder that safety was relative.
Warsaw on Foot (12,258 steps taken)
Before heading home, I made a short stop in Warsaw to meet fellow HUMAN Maciej Zemojcin for a proper meal at The Soul Kitchen.
Meanwhile, back in Kyiv, Fred’s The Sky Was on Fire premiered at the Kyiv Opera House, covering the cultural genocide unfolding in Ukraine. Seven ballet dancers from Kyiv and Odessa had been killed in action.
You can view the trailer here:
Day 7 - Warsaw to London (900 miles in 2hrs 30 mins)
After thousands of miles, convoys, bureaucracy, cold nights, and a mission that tested every ounce of endurance, I landed in London. The war felt distant again. But as I stepped through arrivals and saw my wife waiting, it all caught up with me. The exhaustion, the relief, the weight of what I had seen. Hugging my daughters, then calling my son at university, that was the real moment of arrival. Home, but changed.
The Power of a Group Of Humans
This trip was not about me. It was about what a small group of determined humans can achieve when they refuse to stand by. Steve, Fred, and Kevin will be lifelong friends, forged through miles of hardship and laughter.
Alfred (Fred) Hagen is a businessman running a successful construction company, but also a storyteller and explorer, known for discovering WWII aircraft 'Swamp Ghost' now displayed at Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and his relentless pursuit of history’s forgotten narratives. His documentary, The Sky Was on Fire, captures the cultural devastation unfolding in Ukraine, a stark reminder of what is at stake.
Steve’s family foundation, the Margie Mosher Schmidt Foundation, has been a pillar of support for orphans in Ukraine, they work closely with Pilgrim Republic.
Kevin, once a Black Hawk pilot, now channels his efforts into renewable energy, leading in GE’s Wind Business. The contrast between his past in military aviation and his present in sustainable infrastructure is a reflection of what many of us felt on this journey, turning experiences of war into actions that build a better future.
Thank you to fellow HUMAN, Colonel Terry Virts, retired NASA astronaut, Space Shuttle pilot, and International Space Station commander, for sharing his exploits from Mission 11, inspiring me to take on Mission 12, and introducing me to Ukraine Focus leader Brock Bierman.
And huge thanks to Brock Bierman, leader of Ukraine Focus, for bringing us together and leading this extraordinary mission with clarity and resolve.
And to everyone who donated, be it time, money or music. Thank you.
Support the Next Mission
I’m almost at my target to fund the next vehicle. A few more donations will see me over the line:
Ukraine Focus has now delivered over 300 ambulances, medical aid, and vital supplies to the frontlines since the early days of the war, ensuring that those in desperate need receive life-saving assistance. Their work is relentless, and their impact is real.
Learn more about Ukraine Focus
Final Thoughts
In the face of evil, action matters. And as this journey proved, when a Group Of Humans come together, incredible things happen.
One of the best experiences of my life, a reminder that even the smallest actions can change lives.
- Rob
Such a great storyteller and makes you want to do something wholesome !
Wow! Just wow! Beautiful writing, from an epic adventure.