Ms. von Wolfersdorff, you work as a tax consultant with a focus on sustainability in Berlin and lead a research project for a think tank. Since Russia attacked Ukraine, your organization Evacu Aid Kyiv has been taking women, children and the elderly out of the city with buses. In the meantime, they have brought more than 700 people to safe foreign countries, financed by private donations. How did you get into it?
Anna Schiller
volunteer.
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I found out from a friend that security companies are supposed to rescue managers from Kyiv for a good 15,000 euros.
When I hung up, it boiled up in me.
In a war, money can't make the difference between life and death!
So on March 6th we started crowdfunding with the aim of supporting as many people as possible.
Just one day later, however, the security companies also stopped their work.
Then we organized our own rescue mission with the donations.
Most recently, on Monday, we rescued 270 women and children with seven buses and accommodated them in Germany and Austria.
Who are you helping?
Not all make it to the evacuation trains.
You can no longer just take a taxi to the train station, and the train station is crowded.
Even if you have a car, it is no longer so easy to escape because of the lack of fuel.
We support everyone who cannot help themselves: pregnant women, mothers with autistic, sick or disabled children and the elderly.
How do you decide who to take with you?
Everyone has to register online.
Priorities are asked: Are you pregnant?
In which month?
how many children do you have
Are they disabled, autistic, injured?
We want to target vulnerable people.
After that, everyone is called by our call center and receives a Q&A about our organization by email.
That creates trust.
How does a rescue operation work then?
I organize the convoys with a partner, Adrian Rauko.
He hired military-trained drivers who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan.
They drive our coaches with medicine and food to Kyiv.
On the way back they take women and children with them.
They bring people to Austria and Germany to initial reception facilities.
It is a land bridge to Kyiv.
How dangerous are the tours?
Of course, these are not tourist trips.
From the border we are escorted by the Ukrainian police.
Rockets recently landed 300 meters from where our drivers spend the night.
There were troop movements 15 kilometers from the convoy.
We are also receiving good information on the security situation from the Ukrainian side.
This is how we plan which route to take.
When planning the route, we have to weigh things up: we don't want to take long breaks in the Ukraine, but at the same time we don't want to put sick children or old people through a long journey.
On the last tour, however, the buses were on the road for up to 45 hours at a time.
Who are you in contact with on the Ukrainian side?
We work closely with the Kyiv city administration.
She helped us draw up the first evacuation lists.
In consultation with the city, we evacuated a children's rehabilitation clinic and a children's hospital.
I had to confirm in writing to Mayor Vitali Klitschko that I would personally take responsibility for the rescued.
Are you supported by the German side?
The Malteser help us enormously and also the Bundeswehr with medical donations.
I have just agreed to cooperate with the Csilla von Boeselager Foundation.
The city of Hoyerswerda supported us on the second tour, and Fürstenfeldbruck and Moorenweis in particular on the third tour.
Beds were organized there for everyone in no time at all and preparations were made for the arrival of seriously ill or handicapped children in an old four-star hotel in the middle of the night.
That was great!
However, we have no official support from the government.
Would you like more support?