More than 1,800 people were rescued from the shelling by Volodymyr Brychka from the Rivne region. He raised 12 of his own and two adopted children, has 43 grandchildren, and simply couldn't stay away when a full-scale war broke out. At the age of 67, he personally carries aid to the military and civilians, and also evacuates people, TSN says.
This is reported by TSN.
The pastor says that he feels all the pain of victims of Russian weapons as his own, so he never doubted whether to go to help in hot spots. Even after the Russians killed his fellow volunteer.
"They shot him when he was driving, they also threw something, maybe a grenade or something, and he caught fire and just burned down there with those products," the man says.
He not only carries food to the front but also evacuates civilians when leaving back. My son-in-law and the whole neighborhood help. "He took out the seats completely and set some benches. He took 30 people in, the people were so scared because there was shelling," the daughter says about one of her father's trips.
In his native village, the rescued were given temporary shelter, then taken further to safer Ukrainian cities or to the border.
The man remembers one of the evacuations with tears. "We evacuated this orphanage. We just took random people to hold the kids," the man says.
52 newborns and toddlers under 3 years of age were taken out of Vorzel. Hungry and cold, he says, they lived under Russian shelling for about a month. Their crying, he admits, is still in my head. "They are scared themselves, we are strangers, who are we, strange uncles have arrived and they are grabbed and loaded into some kind of bus, taken somewhere," pastor Volodymyr recalls.
And the memory of another evacuation, on the contrary, makes him smile. Then they rescued the 85-year-old namesake, who was picked up by volunteers along with a bicycle. On it, the man drove 75 kilometers and dragged another 9 through the forest. And now two Volodymyrs are communicating via video connection. The 85-year-old, thanks to a volunteer, is now in Germany with his daughter and is already mastering a training bike.
It is difficult for him to count how many people were saved thanks to Mr. Volodymyr Brychka, but the village council did it. "It is established that more than 1,800 people were saved, such heroism should not be forgotten. It was decided to present him with the highest state award - the award of Hero of Ukraine," says village head Grigory Targonsky.
The pastor does not consider himself a hero. He says, does what he has to do, and is going on the road again - to take the most necessary things to those who need them.