Where the bodies lie…

We had a really positive meeting with the Ministry the other day – one that has served to buoy my spirits, which, I will admit, felt irreversibly sunken last week.

When I was writing my last column, I was fixated on how long we would be able to keep our work going in Ukraine. However, while this is still a massive problems that has to be addressed, I have realised that dwelling on it is somewhat paralysing, and, psychologically speaking, it is debilitating.

This week, I will explain a bit about the upshot of the meeting with the Ministry, and I will tell you about what we might call Legenda’s first specialist mission here in Ukraine.

Up to this point, much of the work we have been doing has taken place in the classroom, or else it has been general relief work.

But things have changed. We will soon embark on a mission that we have a wealth of experience in – we have been asked to locate mass graves. This is what we do best.

A meeting of minds

THE meeting with the Ministry was excellent.

We now have three full-time EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) specialists. Some of them are among the best in the world; the sort of guys that train the trainers.

Basically, we reached an agreement with the Ministry that we would be deployed next week in order to clear routes towards the suspected locations of a number of mass graves.

We believe that across Ukraine, buried, in deep holes, hidden and unmarked, are thousands of people who have suffered undignified deaths.

We have been tipped off by locals as to where some of these mass graves can be found.

The information we have received pinpoints a few plots in the east. For now, I am not going to give any more specific information on their presumed locations.

A fast pace

BUT I can say that things are moving forward, and at a fast pace.

As I write, I am actually on the road towards the eastern front again, towards the Donbas area.

We have a few vehicles, critical medical aid, helmets and the likes – a variety of non-lethal support, essentially.

The convoy that I am now riding in, by the way, was all organised by our colleague Finn, and the UK charity he works with.

Who lies beneath the ground?

WE have been told by the Ministry that locals know the whereabouts of mass graves, however, at the minute, we do not know if we will find them full of soldiers, civilians, or both.

The way up to these unconsecrated burial sites will likely be rigged with mines, and booby-traps with deadly explosives. They would love it if they could kill more of us as we seek to bring dignity to the dead, so that is why the EOD volunteers will be with us every step of the way.

They will help us clear a safe path towards the graves so that, in cruel irony, more lives are not lost.

To do this they will use drones, metal detectors, and a wealth of experience and knowledge. Without them, we would have no hope on this mission.

This is what we do

This will be the first proper mission for Legenda in Ukraine, so to speak.

I am a little bit nervous about it in one way, but I know that the team have enough training and experience to pull it off. Everything they have learned over the last 25 years will be called upon.

An honour

IT is an honour and privilege to take part in these historic moments for Ukraine.

It is not only very important for the families of the dead to have closure, but, an objective of almost equal weight, is exposing the Russian Federation for what they have done in Ukraine during this – let’s not prevaricate – criminal invasion.

I believe that the work we are doing here will show the world what Russia have done unto the civil population of Ukraine. It will show the bullet-holes that scream point-blank executions. It will show cuts and broken bones inconsistent with any plausible just defence. It will help reveal the truth.

We will be help to tell the true story of this war. To this end, Legenda’s forthcoming mission represents a crucial part of this war; the quest to discover and prove who is guilty and who is not.

This will be an honour, not just for us, but an honour for history itself.