European cities are banning diesel cars. So they’re headed to Ukraine’s front lines
As war rages in his home country of Ukraine, Ivan Oleksii pays close attention to the environmental regulations throughout Europe. Specifically, he’s focused on how those regulations might impact diesel vehicles. This might not seem like a typical activity to support a war effort, but for Oleksii, it very much is.
Since the war broke out in 2022, a group of nonprofits has scoured the continent’s used-car market, looking for SUVs, pickups, and ambulances. These vehicles have offered a lifeline to the Ukrainian military, as they can be used to transport wounded soldiers from the frontlines to stabilization points where they can receive medical care. More than 60,000 vehicles were imported to the Ukrainian armed forces in the first year of the war, according to a Ukrainian news outlet. Some of the vehicles are donated directly. Others are purchased using donated funds.
While there are many ways to secure vehicles, some of the nonprofits say environmental regulations that seek to improve air quality in European cities have played a role in making more vehicles available.
“The environmental policies aimed at reducing car emissions have totally helped us to get donated vehicles,” said Oleksii, who’s the cofounder of Car for Ukraine, which has deployed 500 vehicles to the frontlines as of mid November. His organization is primarily interested in diesel vehicles––the type of car European governments want off their roads––because the military already uses diesel to fuel its combat vehicles.
How London’s policies impact the war
One of the most significant environmental transportation policies is London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which charges drivers whose cars don’t meet certain emissions standards. The program began in Central London in 2019, but expanded to include all London boroughs in 2023.
As a part of the initiative, Transport for London implemented a scrappage scheme to pay Londoners to “scrap, donate, or retrofit vehicles” that don’t meet the ULEZ emissions standards, according to the agency’s website. The city added a new option in March to allow applicants to donate non-ULEZ-compliant vehicles to Ukraine through an organization called British-Ukrainian Aid (BUA), which would then assess if a vehicle could be donated based on “need and suitability.”
JC Clapsaddle, who’s a member of the Rotary Club of San Antonio, and has helped bring vehicles to Ukraine, said the ULEZ restrictions have had an impact on the used-car market. “The tax and fee structure to own a personal diesel vehicle in the heart of London is so restrictive—perhaps punitive—that owners are glad to find someone like us who are willing to take them off their hands for cash,” he said in a text message.
The scrappage scheme helped donate more than 330 vehicles to Ukraine, according to a Transport for London news release from August. Transport for London pays the equivalent of what the person getting rid of the vehicle would have received from the agency for scrapping it. BUA then takes ownership of the vehicle and helps facilitate its donation to the Ukrainian military.
But some volunteers driving cars from the U.K. to Ukraine believe London’s political leaders could do more to connect discarded vehicles with the Ukrainian war effort. Tony, who is British and asked Fast Company not to use his last name due to concerns about being targeted for supporting Ukraine, has been heavily involved in this project, leading 40 convoys into the country since the war broke out. Most of his vehicles are sourced from private sellers in the southeastern part of the U.K.
He calls the scrappage scheme “all political PR,” adding that part of the problem was the lower compensation offered to vehicle owners looking to donate their vehicles to Ukraine compared to what they could find on the used-car market. Oleksii also says the process could have been more transparent and could have been better communicated to the public.
A Transport for London spokesperson said hundreds of “altruistic” Londoners have used the program. They added that it was developed based on “extensive consultation with the Ukrainian Embassy.”
Sourcing cars beyond London
While London’s ULEZ is at the forefront of congestion pricing programs, there are other initiatives in Europe that could soon open up new markets for used SUVs and pickup trucks. Oleksii noted that his organization hasn’t imported many vehicles from France, but he has his eyes on upcoming policy changes in Lyon and Paris that will strengthen restrictions on certain vehicles in low-emission zones.
Blågula Bilen, a Swedish group, has brought nearly 800 vehicles to Ukraine, most of which have come from Sweden. The Scandinavian nation has higher vehicle taxes for diesel-powered vehicles. A Blågula Bilen spokesperson said in an email that while they have no evidence that the tax has helped their efforts, “it can’t hurt.”
Other organizations are less convinced that European environmental policy has made a difference. West Auto Hub focuses on “simplifying cross-border vehicle trade,” says CEO Julia Rykovska. The company was well-suited to help donate and transport vehicles to the Ukrainian military and helped found the Volyn Humanitarian Initiative to do just that.
The Volyn Humanitarian Initiative, which was founded to tackle a range of humanitarian needs in Ukraine, has delivered more than 1,000 vehicles from across Europe to the Ukrainian armed forces. Rykovska says very few of their vehicles have come from cities. The simple, durable vehicles they’re looking for come from farmers, foresters, or construction workers, Rykovska said in an email. She added that emissions regulations don’t seem to have had much of an impact on their operation.
But one thing that all the groups can agree on is that the Ukrainian armed forces need these vehicles. And the scrappy effort could be all the more important if President-elect Donald Trump decides to withdraw support from Ukraine. The vehicles tend to have short lifespans, traversing combat zones, and sometimes entering areas under fire, according to a representative from HelpStab, a volunteer organization that provides medical support to Ukrainians impacted by the war. To navigate this rugged and dangerous terrain, donated vehicles often require retrofitting for the combat zone. That’s where Artem Pastushyna comes in.
Before Russia’s invasion, Pastushyna had a workshop in Lviv, Ukraine, for his hobby: welding. He made furniture and what he describes as “funny things” for himself. But by spring 2022, Pastushyna’s shop, which is called Iron Nuts, was focusing on retrofitting vehicles for combat zones.
One of his friends who’s a combat medic gave him advice on how to retrofit the vehicles for use as “case evacuation” vehicles, which help get soldiers to a stabilization point. He told him to remove the rear windows and replace them with metal plates, remove the rear seats and add combat stretchers, and change the light color to red when the door opens to make it less visible.
Pastushyna, who runs Iron Nuts by himself, says he retrofits four to five vehicles per month. His work is representative of the many small operations that help bring vehicles to the frontlines.
Pastushyna also builds covers for car grilles and heard that in one instance, his cover saved the lives of a group of intelligence officers returning from a mission in Russian territory. The officers’ vehicle ran into an anti-tank hedgehog, a metal obstacle designed to get in the way of tanks. Normally, they might be stuck, as the hedgehog could have destroyed the engine or gotten wedged into the car. With the grille cover, which includes a large metal tube on the front of the bumper, they were able to push through it.
But the work on the vehicles has taken a toll. Pastushyna says that even on his limited days off, he’s still fielding requests and helping with logistics for the vehicles. Two of his close friends have been killed. He uses the work as a distraction from the nightmare his country is enduring. “I just hope that no one needs to feel this same shit as we’re feeling now,” he said. “War is so stupid.”
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