If there had been someone who could replace him, it would have been different. Then Johan might have felt that he could go home. He misses his children.
– But we just get fewer and fewer. And what I do, no one else seems to want – to go all the way to the front.
When he came to Ukraine in the summer of 2022, it was to train soldiers, today that happens extremely rarely. He mostly works with logistics.
– I make sure that they get the type of material I can assist with, right up to the front, down to the shooting guard. Because they don’t get stuff. There is a sickening lack of first aid, food and warm clothes. They cannot replace the fallen anymore. It’s too damn.
– Almost nothing comes in. It has decreased by 90 percent, I think.
Volunteers leave
He understands that volunteers who applied to Ukraine early go home, especially those who went without experience. He himself has been in three wars before, but it is tiring.
– It’s hard. People you know die. It’s hard to sleep badly. It’s hard to get cold. It’s terribly unpleasant when they shoot, I think so too.
Another important factor is the money. Donations have dropped drastically.
– An organization told me that they received half a million a month before. Now they get 50,000 if they are lucky.
The security situation has also worsened enormously.
– The air defense has been so depleted and Russia is firing ballistic robots that go so fast that they basically reach the entire country in less than ten minutes.
Too dangerous
He is disappointed with the large aid organizations that he says are not visible on the ground.
– When you ask, they say it’s too dangerous. During the fall, I haven’t seen a single one. And I’m only at the front so I should have seen them if they were there.
Johan says that it is the smaller organizations that he sees making a difference and mentions Operation Aid, the Blue and Yellow car and the Norwegian Free Ukraine.
The needs are still great, he underlines. Everything is needed – from basic things like food and warm clothes to educational materials.
– So many people die that you have to educate. In Ukraine, when people have to use weapons, it’s the first time they do it – and then they have to shoot at an enemy who wants to kill them.
He understands that in Sweden it is easy to forget Ukraine when other things get more space in the media and inflation and electricity prices eat away at the private economy.
– Nobody can do everything but everyone can do something. Foot warmers that you have when you hunt cost about 25 bucks and can save the feet of someone in a shooting range.
He himself intends to continue as long as he can.
– I know that I put out forest fires with fire extinguishers and put plasters on big wounds. But half of what you deliver is that they are seen and given a hug by someone who has traveled from another country. Right there and then it makes a difference.