Away from the daily hell on the frontline of the war in Ukraine, a team of volunteers is working hard to make the lives of the Ukrainian army more bearable. In the coming days, the “mobile sauna” designed by Stanislav Madens will travel to Donetsk province, in the east, to encourage those fighting for the country. To warm not only their body, but also their soul. Give them as much comfort as possible during difficult battles.
In a warehouse area next to the port of Odessa, the 30-year-old man goes through the back to the van that has been transformed into a mobile “toilet room”. With a broad smile, he enthusiastically throws both arms at the vehicle parked outside the workshop and utters a proud interjection: “Surprise! Here she is”. The white, seemingly inconspicuous van has a reservoir with small wooden blocks in the back. On the front, the Ukrainian coat of arms painted in the country’s colors is embedded in the plate to announce the mission.
Stanislav climbs the stairs and describes the interior space in tense English. He raises his eyes to the ceiling, as if searching for words, leaning on the mobile phone translator to find the forgotten terms. The wood-clad van has hangers nailed to one of the walls, a table with a few benches, two showers hidden behind a shower curtain, and a sauna at the back, behind a door. It was all built by volunteers and with money raised through social media campaigns.
To facilitate communication, his friend Vadym Herbanovskyi explains the purpose of the project: “The idea is to get close to the frontline and give the soldiers who are there the opportunity to take a hot shower and wash their belongings. couldn’t find a place to clean themselves within a few miles because 90% of the houses were destroyed.” Vadym is responsible for raising funds to support the project and knows the reality of the trenches well. He is told it almost daily by his best friend fighting in the battered city of Bakhmut. And so he decided to make another mobile structure, bigger and with more functions, which will be ready in three weeks.
While the white van waits for instructions to hit the road, the giant army green truck is being readied in the workshop next door. The sound of the welding machine echoes in and the tools are scattered on the floor and side tables. The process is halfway. “In this bathroom on wheels, the main idea is to have space for the military to undress and shower. On this side there will be drawers, six hot water showers supported by three thousand liters of water and three machines on the wall of the bottom to wash the uniforms”, Vadym sums up. He imagines the parts being put together and believes it’s the least he can do to help his best friend, who is also fighting an invisible enemy these days: the cold. “The opportunity to bathe only occurs a few times a month in some cases. They spend the whole day in the mud, in destroyed buildings, in the field or in the woods, regardless of the weather. Blood. It’s not just a question of health, but also of mental state”.
The next step is to raise funds to build a third support vehicle. Away from the fray, Vadym confesses it’s been a hard year to manage, but he refuses to complain. “I’m not sure I can complain about being here because we’re in Odessa and this is a safe place,” he explains. He’s proud to talk about his best friend and has no doubts that “he’s the right person” to lead the way. “I’m trying my best to keep him alive.”
Source: DN
