As the war in Ukraine rages on, images of the havoc wrought by the Russian invasion have become the norm. However, Luxembourger Philippe Jacob, volunteering to help those in need, is an example of the many nuances of war.
Jacob, who has been active in the Ukrainian crisis zone in the Pokrovsk area for six months, is mainly responsible for the evacuation of civilians, thus ensuring their safety and basic needs. Jacob has been in the crisis zone 13 times since the beginning of the war three years ago. His stays range from a few weeks to six months, as his most recent mission shows.
He explains in conversation with RTL that the main people concerned are the elderly, but injured soldiers also belong to the group of people that he gets to safety. Transportation is ensured in conjunction with the ambulances provided to the LUkraine association by the Luxembourgish government. Civilians are taken to shelters situated 150 kilometres away from the frontlines, around the Dnipro locality.
Jacob further explains that he and his team evacuate between three to 70 people per day, detailing the difficulties of evacuation due to drone attacks against their ambulances on the day before the planned evacuation, thus reducing the capacity to transport as many people as possible. The frequent destruction of ambulances and fire trucks creates a need for other kinds of vehicles to ensure that the evacuation plans run smoothly. In this regard, Jacob states that armoured vehicles are needed to organise evacuations, but minibuses would also be of great help.
Jacob remarks with outrage on the frequency of military and drone attacks in the last few weeks, referring as an example to an attack that occurred just last Saturday, which targeted the civilian population of Ukraine, primarily the rescue services and firefighters. To make matters worse, Jacob assumes that attacks targeting civilians and NGOs will only increase in the near future.
The 31-year-old Luxembourger from Cruchten also delves into the constant state of fear that one experiences, especially when directly confronted with the loss of human life during the evacuation. Jacob can only process these experiences following each evacuation due to the looming danger of each mission.
As a sign of Jacob’s commitment, he will return to the crisis zone in May, planning a two- to three-week stay to provide as much help as possible to civilians.
