Dear {{First Name | Reader}},

Note: this story contains descriptions and footage of casualties.

We’ve sourced, bought, fixed up, and delivered now well over a dozen “war cars” over the past couple of years. These SUVs, pickups, and vans were used for groceries and soccer practice in communities across Europe, and we gave them new purpose as the workhorses of this war.

I think often of the red 2005 Nissan X-Trail I bought from a young woman in Salzburg. Just a couple weeks later, it was the only vehicle left standing after a major attack on our guys’ barracks at night and saved several lives as it evacuated soldiers wounded in their sleep. Or the grey Nissan Pathfinder that, with its drone team, took out a russian forward base on its first day in service.

Each of the vehicles we’ve put to work has a story: heroic, tragic, and often—as you’re about to read—both. Today I want to share the story (so far) of Boatman’s Toyota Land Cruiser.

There’s a saying across Africa: “If you want to go into the bush, take a Land Rover. If you want to come back out again, take a Land Cruiser.” You don’t see many of them in North America or western Europe, but in places where infrastructure can be a bit lacking, the Land Cruiser is far and away the vehicle of choice, and what I would be driving across Ukraine if they were bloody cheaper!

If you’re a regular reader of these updates, you’ll be familiar with Boatman, a former merchant marine from Mariupol who took up arms here in Kyiv at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Boatman is a tireless man of integrity and courage who, when not launching assaults against the invader, was putting his childhood model-building hobby and metalworking skills together to design kamikaze drones.

While we didn’t buy his Land Cruiser, we are what keeps it running with our funding. I asked Boatman to share its story with you. Here it is, in his own words:

“I bought this Land Cruiser in 2022 for combat missions, from the remnants of my savings from my past civilian life. At that time, I served in the reconnaissance unit of the 241st Brigade. Since then, we together liberated Kharkiv region, defended Bakhmut, and did a lot of combat work.”

“On August 19, 2023, it received severe body damage as a result of an Iskander-M missile attack on Drama Theater in Chernihiv, where I participated in Demo Day and exhibited my kamikaze drones. That missile attack killed at least 7 civilians (the number of military casualties is of restricted access), including a 6-year-old girl named Sofia, who was the first person I found after the explosion and helped to take to the hospital. At that time, she was still breathing, but her injuries and blood loss were incompatible with life.”

“Then—again combat work in Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions, as well as endless tests as part of my project on loitering munitions. During this time, the vehicle's chassis was repaired 4 times and gearbox 1 time, prices for each repairs were around 1000 - 1500 USD. Thanks to Ryan, a set of mud tires was purchased and the chassis was repaired once again. (However, that repair lasted until load 10 pieces of 155-mm shells at Velyka Novosilka in Donetsk region, and drive off-road, the rear shock absorbers are dead again 😁).

“Evacuation of casualties from Shevchenko (near Velyka Novosilka) village, after MLRS shelling. The girl laying in the garage — "Alpaca" from "Hospitaliers" — died later in the hospital.”

“Most recently, due to poor performance of the radiator clogged with mud and overheating, the cylinder head was burned. The repair was completed thanks to Ryan. The only thing left to do is to adjust the valves and do some work on the chassis again. Thanks to everyone who helps us to do our combat work to protect our country!”

Isn’t it crazy that we’re holding off the biggest invasion in Europe since World War II with cars we’re buying for $7k from the European AutoTrader equivalent? I watched the fantastic, new movie “Warfare” last week and couldn’t get my thoughts away from how well-equipped US soldiers were in Iraq versus Ukrainians here, now. I wish we could replace every Toyota with an armored Humvee; every Nissan with a Bradley. But this is where we are, somehow, in 2025, with the world as it is. We play it as it lays🏌‍♀️ and are grateful that we can be the difference between soldiers driving versus walking under enemy artillery fire.

I’ve got some more vehicle purchases in sight for over the summer, including a badly-needed relief cargo van for our Swedish volunteer friends out East, and more SUVs. Your help with these bigger purchases is always very welcome and critical.

I’ve got a full tractor trailer of rehabilitation equipment on the way right now from Dublin to Dnipro and will send a little story about that once the equipment is in the field. Lots of front line deliveries taking place right now across the theatre including €68k of donated power supplies from Germany to the front line last week—more on that once reports come in. And I’ll soon be announcing the creation of a charitable foundation here in Ukraine…just give me a minute until I get a website up. 🙂

I’d love it if you would forward this email to a friend or two who cares about Ukraine and ask them to use the link below to sign up for updates. This little community of ours is growing through our trusted network and we are continuing to do amazing things because of your support. 🌟

All the best,

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We are in deep mourning after the loss last week of Chris Garrett (40). Chris was a demining expert and the founder of the ordinance removal non-profit PREVAIL. He was killed while demining a field near Izium. He leaves behind a wife and infant daughter in the UK. RIP to one of the very best of our community.