Spearheads Ukraine Mission
Our ongoing commitment to the Ukraine
The Spearhead Foundation is a trusted charitable organisation registered with the D.E.C (Disaster Emergency Committee) and due to this have been called upon and volunteered to operate inside Ukraine since the full scale invasion by Russia began.
So as we continue to operate in the red zones of Ukraine and continue to purchase equipment and vehicles to give to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Local organisations we are very proud to have been confirmed however it was never intentional as the first British support to arrive inside the Ukraine, getting to Lviv a few days after the full scale invasion began and almost immediately we knew this wouldn't be our only trip inside of Ukraine although it wasn't our intention to be in country still this long, as we hoped the war would have been over by now but under the DEC we have committed for the foreseeable future to provide training, equipment and our knowledge to Ukraine.
Since the full scale invasion began we have successfully completed humanitarian operations almost every mile of the frontline, with some of our more experienced operators completing over a year each on the frontlines. These deliveries and operations which have included evacuations, mine clearance, and training have taken us from Lviv to Kyiv, Kyiv O-Blast, Odesa, and Rivne, Bucha, more recently Kherson and Kharkiv. Primarily operating in 2023/2024 in the Donbas where the foundation really cut its teeth, conducting complex rescues in bother Soledar and Bahkmut where two of our operators were awarded for assisting those towns and its civilians in its worst days before being taken by Russia.
Several of our operators have also been working within the EUAM and have qualified for the EUAM Ukraine medal which was awarded in Brussels in November 2023.
We are extremely proud of our work and even prouder to be able to continue providing support towards the Ukraine through continuous deployments which see us engage in partnerships with SIFH Global, HARP Rescue, Donbas Evacuation, Bostock SOS, MAG, IRCC and EUAM Ukraine.
If you'd like to donate you can by using the link here. All donations go towards kit and equipment which support our operations in the Ukraine you can see a full list at the bottom of this thread although to read what we have done since, who our corporate donors are and our support so far please continue down past the phase two part.
Phase Two -
Following the success of our initial fundraising and deployments which seen us active in the Ukraine for 23 days in the first 61 days of the conflict getting the supplies to the frontline and evacuating people to either the border or to Lviv we have further dug in to commit ourselves in a more sustainable long term humanitarian role within the Ukraine. This will be referred to by us on our impact report at year end as 'Phase 2 UKR'
This long term commitment which commenced in June 2022 has seen us fundraise and purchase EOD and mine clearing equipment, a van, further medical equipment all to which will be used and have been used in clearing ordinance by volunteers in Bucha and Homostol Airport famously known during the start of the war as 'The Battle for Antonov'. The van has been used in assisting evacuations in the Donbas and the team have helped other volunteers based in Ukraine full time conduct training for the police, armed forces and we have conducted medical training for other NGOs in the east. Furthermore to our phase two plan whilst a team is in the Ukraine conducting our new role which is interlinked with a written and signed partnership agreement with The Ukraine Defence Police (The Spearhead Foundation itself and not volunteers or members we supply) and other organisations such as Bostock SOS, Iggy team, IRCC and DEC. To further outline the work we are continuing is as follows
Role one: working with partners/registered organisations to conduct IED/Mine clearing and destroying any remnants left behind by the Russians in areas taken back by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This isn't a funded role and we will be purchasing kit on going (please see list of kit at the bottom of page). This role will also double up as a training team, which seen us assist in training team similar to those who trained 2000 soldiers between July and August in mine awareness, medical evacuation and complex rescues.
Role two: is one we did adhoc during the first weeks of the war, and this was complex rescue and evacuation. Already since being in the Ukraine since 3rd March the foundation have conducted serious numbers of evacuations. The team will operate in Eastern Ukraine based out of Dnipro and will interlink and work with Bostock SOS and Iggys team whilst assisting and talking with the IRCC on the situation. With Bostock and Iggy we will compliment their team of rescuers with our rope trained and trauma trained medics. We have already supplied a minibus which will be used by Bostock SOS when we aren't in country and this was funded as part of our Ukraine Fund.
They is several ways you can donate to support, where as always with 'The Spearhead Foundation' nothing goes on salaries. You can click the donate link above which says 'Donate to the Ukraine' or you can if you are in the US and prefer to go through a US channel then you are welcome to use our partners over there called 'SIFH Global' who will ensure that the funds are sent to ourselves in order to purchase the correct equipment.
If you'd like to talk more about long term support, large donations, partnerships then please feel free to get in touch with us via email too: INFO@RFNGROUP.CO.UK
Please scroll to the bottom to see what we have already purchased and what we are purchasing on-going to see if you'd like to donate.
Arriving in the Ukraine
Our arrival in the Ukraine although we reacted fast we extremely planned out our operational objectives and what we wanted to do but in fairness no plan could survive what we seen in those opening days. They was nobody other than the Polish firefighters on location and the Polish Police were the only line of defence. The scenes were dreadful. Even more so on the Ukrainian side, they was no help in Ukraine. They were queues for 12 to 13 miles of women and children, most of them already suffering from the the struggle to try to escape and the long wait had the cold take their toll. It was dreadful, people were weak, fainting and sadly some fatalities from having been there for 2 days or more with no food, or water and -15 weather. was beginning to take its grasp.
This for Spearhead was our first sight of the devastation and its what we first reacted to when in country. Trying to assist with that queue the best we possibly could, whether it be warm foil blankets or first aid to poorly children it was horrendous, long and cold but most of all heartbreaking.
The worst part of this was we knew on the other side of the border people were rocking up with truck loads of supplies, literally dumping the kit, taking a photo and leaving. Classing that as help. For some people in this queue they'd never see that 'help' and they'd die waiting to get there.
Phase One UKR.
Over the course of our time deployed to the Ukraine during phase one, we deployed to several areas. Starting in Lviv, we pushed to Rivne then to Kyiv where we worked from and in the surrounding areas including Bucha and Irpin. At the time both Rivne, Bucha, Irpin and Kyiv were under threat and constant siege. The foundation whom deployed with a highly successful and qualified team linked up in country with The Georgian National Legion and The Ukraine Defence National EOD Police where they assisted us with access to get the help and support needed to the areas it needed to go the most. This included teaming up with other foundations who had the same chit (pass) as ourselves such as 'HARP Rescue' the American disaster team and with Op React a British organisation for veterans in Lviv. Due to these partnerships and our skillset we managed to provide essential aid to the frontlines and through some cut off areas and where the fighting was most intense. This came at a huge risk and often found the members of the foundation dodging Russian checkpoints or being involved in air strikes or rocket attacks.
However, despite all of that and the luck of us along with some stupidity the foundation provided a whopping amount of support. We have listed it below for you to see for yourselves.
- 1,387 Full IFAKS (individual first aid kits which hold TQ x2/FFD x2/Chest Seal x2).
- 4.7 tons of medical kit delivered.
- 238 ppl supported with treatment.
- Delivered £7k of Anesthesia to Kyiv
- Assistance of evacuations.
Evacuating Civilians in the Donbas
Over the course of the last 7 months, the foundation has carried itself strongly when its come to the humanitarian work in Ukraine. No more so than the foundation recently being asked to step alongside some of the best in the business such as Iggy, Ali and Bryce to assist with the emergency evacuations from contested towns such as Soledar. Soledar had undergone 8 weeks of being rocketed, shelled and attacked with many of the civilians escaping prior to the town being attacked, some however remained. It was our job to spend 8 days under fire to bring as many of them out. The foundation alongside Iggy who ran the operation brought a unbelievable number out of the city to safety, the team dealt with many casualties where the Russians had shelled innocent civilians and we bared witness to Russian war crimes such as use of cluster munitions and white phos being dropped on to civilian apartment complexes.
Corporate Partners and Ukrainian Partners
Non of this operation whether Phase One or Two could have been or be a success if it wasn't for our supporters, whether that be individual donors or corporate donors it has sincerely helped especially despite billions of pounds being allocated to the Ukraine this has actually gone to large organisations who take large salaries and aren't running into red zones to support directly. So to you all as mentioned at the top of the page we have raised over £40,000+ so THANK YOU for supporting the little guys where you know your funds are going only on equipment and are reaching the frontline directly through us.
Our fundraising partners are SIFH Global (Xenia & Sandi) who are located stateside and are doing a wonderful fundraising job for EOD equipment for our team too as part of an official partnership (TSH and SIFH).
Our partners inside the Ukraine where we are recognised and registered as volunteers is officially the 'Department of Explosive Service of the National Police of Ukraine', The Ukraine Foreign Legion, IRCC and DEC to which we are pending membership now we have passed our vetting to the committee.
Again a huge official thank you to those corporate businesses who have donated since February to our campaign:
Morson Projects/Morson Group
Signum Aviation
Manchester Medicals LTD
Edgar Brothers
Realism Training LTD
City Airport Barton
Opti-Fi Limited
Quay Build LTD
legal stuff
All photos are the property of 'The Spearhead Foundation' and were taken by 'The Spearhead Foundations' volunteers or partners whilst deployed on operations. The foundation are the only official partners of governmental services inside of the Ukraine outside of the UN/Red Cross/Crescent.
For publications, further information please email: Craig@rfngroup.co.uk
The team are not deployed in a fighting capacity and are there solely on humanitarian or explosive ordinance disposal. The team all hold Level 3 CP and a minimum FREC/FPOS medical qualification. They are all highly trained and experienced professionals.
Any donations to The Spearhead Foundation are to be spent at the discretion of the foundations trustees unless agreed in contract otherwise. However that being said, no donated funds will go to the board or volunteers but will all be spent on equipment only.
Below is a link of expenditure including raised, funded and spent in Ukraine or for Ukraine from 2022 until the end of 2023.
If you'd like to donate please use the link on our page and fire us an email to INFO@RFNGROUP.CO.UK if you'd like to support our campaign in the long run.