Volunteers from Rubikus.HelpUA have been helping evacuate people with limited mobility from Ukraine to Europe since March 2022, with local initiatives including Barrier-Free Foundation assisting on the ground. In early February, the group for the first time rented a special double-decker bus with beds and evacuated 38 people to Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Germany.
One of the passengers was 72-year-old Viktor from Druzhkivka, a town 13 kilometers from the front line. His son Maksym, who has a Category I disability, left for Denmark with his mother in autumn 2025 for treatment, while Viktor stayed behind. After Russian attacks intensified in January 2026, he lived in his basement, heating it with a homemade stove, and agreed to evacuate only after his daughter pleaded with him.
“If it hadn’t been for my daughter, I would not have left; I would have stayed in Druzhkivka until the end,” Viktor said.
In Dnipro, the trip nearly collapsed after the bus broke down when an oil pipe burst. While it was being repaired, volunteers urgently moved 18 passengers, including three bedridden people, to a warm shelter. The bus then continued through Kharkiv and Kyiv, where new passengers were being loaded during a ballistic missile and drone attack.
Among those evacuated was 46-year-old Natalia from Kharkiv, who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Because of the disease, she could no longer move on her own or reach a shelter during air raids. Volunteers chose Finland for the family, taking into account her condition and the country’s protection rules. Another passenger was 70-year-old Volodymyr Mykhailovych, whom his son took from Warsaw to Norway after a stroke. 74-year-old Nina Hryhorivna, who could not walk because of a serious illness, was transported through Poland to her daughter in Germany.
After the first trip, 15 people continued on to Finland, 12 found refuge in Denmark, three are expected to receive protection in Norway, three in Germany, one person went to Switzerland, and one family stayed in Poland. During the journey, volunteers raised 12,600 euros, covering costs and allowing them to organize the next trip. Later, they stopped renting the large medical bus and switched to smaller minibuses with reclining seats.