When Ukraine was invaded by Russia in February 2022, life for the country’s citizens was turned upside down, with scientists no exception. Efforts to help have come from many quarters both within Ukraine and the wider international community. Michael Banks caught up with Holly Tann, who has a PhD in nuclear physics from the University of Liverpool and the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Adam McQuire, who is completing a PhD in archaeology, focusing on contemporary conflict analysis, also at Liverpool.

Why did you set up Casus Pax?

Casus Pax, which is a registered and regulated non-profit organization, was formed in the first week of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Adam went to the Polish–Ukrainian Border a few days later, initially on a fact-finding mission to find a way to help civilians escaping the war. He soon began assisting with the construction of an impromptu field hospital, inside a truck stop, to help refugees approaching the border. This field hospital treated more than 300,000 patients in the first month of the war and required a constant supply of equipment and consumables.

Did you have any links with Ukraine?

We have always had a connection with Eastern Europe. Holly has her family roots in western Ukraine while Adam has family who live close to the Ukrainian border in Poland. When the Russian invasion began, it didn’t feel like a distant conflict in some faraway land because Holly was working in Finland at the time.

What kind of support did you have to set up Casus Pax?

At the beginning it was simply the two of us and our van, but friends and family helped us to raise funds to buy aid and transport it over. Slowly we were able to gather a group of motivated, highly skilled volunteers who have been instrumental in developing Casus Pax into what it is today.

Are you now full time?

We work very long hours running Casus Pax, alongside which Adam is still finishing his PhD. Holly left academic research last year after finishing her doctorate.

How many people are involved with the organization?

Casus Pax is run by us on a day-to-day basis. We also have volunteers doing outreach, procurement and fundraising and who travel to Ukraine with us. Daniel Bromley, for example, is a physics postdoc at Imperial College London who volunteers when he can. Jessica Wade – another Imperial physicist – recently became a patron. In Ukraine we have Yuriy Polyezhayev of University of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic as an education co-ordinator.

Your focus initially was on medical supplies – what has that involved?

Since our operations began we have delivered over a million pieces of lifesaving equipment directly to civilian practitioners across every frontline region. We tend to operate between 1 and 50 km from the front lines. These locations feature the most unstable conditions and therefore need medical resources designed to deal with severe wounds and catastrophic injuries. This equipment, sadly, is often used soon after delivery and it is unlikely that we will run out of places to deliver for quite some time.

Where do you get the supplies?

We buy the majority of the supplies we provide and most is sourced as surplus from the UK National Health Service, UK Ministry of Defence and private hospitals. The rest we receive as donations from the private sector.

Are you solely focused on consumables?

No. We have also provided a fleet of eight ambulances and rescue vehicles to the Ukrainian emergency services. Again, these vehicles are unlikely to survive long enough to be discarded due to age-related wear and will invariably need to be replaced fairly quickly.

What were some of the challenges in the early months of the war?

The first challenge was the language barrier. We are by no means fluent, but knowing some gives you  a better understanding of Ukrainian administration and bureaucracy. The second was developing a reputation for efficiency and honesty, which took some time. The longest challenge, however, is the constant process of staying safe. Learning how to use different intelligence options and security protocols and ensuring that we are suitably trained and equipped for emergencies.

How often do you return to Ukraine?

We go back every 6–8 weeks. Sometimes we meet people who are truly desperate with nothing left – a family killed and a house destroyed, clinging to the land they grew up on accompanied only by a pet or two. Ukrainians are tough, resilient and stoic but they are not bulletproof nor are they free from the effects of prolonged psychological duress. On one visit to the front-line town of Berylsav in Kherson Oblast in 2023, which was left without reliable clean water after the Kakhovka Dam had failed, we brought medical supplies, water and water filtration equipment and a couple of tonnes of food. Despite the situation, we were greeted warmly and given boiled potatoes and kompot. One elderly woman said to Holly in Ukrainian: “I don’t know who you are and I don’t care that you can’t understand me, I love you.”

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You were also asked by the Ukrainian police to help preparations for a nuclear event; what did that entail?

In July 2023 we met leaders of the Zaporzhzhia Regional Administration to discuss the risk posed by the ongoing Russian occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). The local authorities were deeply troubled and were struggling to generate international co-operation to prepare for the worst. We then received a letter from the Office of the President, recognizing the risk of an accident at the ZNPP and endorsing Casus Pax as an organization positioned to assist.

From the president’s office itself?

Yes. Two weeks later we received a call from the National Police of Ukraine HQ in Kyiv while we were in Scotland picking up an aid vehicle to take to Ukraine. They requested that we help them prepare for a major chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incident. Three weeks later we made our first delivery of hundreds of thousands of pieces of equipment to the national police based in Zaporizhzhia.

Did your technical backgrounds help with this request?

With the rise in concern over the occupation of the nuclear power plant, it became clear that we were in a niche position to relay information from technical sources to humanitarian organizations. Through Zaporizhzhia we also developed a number of relationships with academic and educational leaders in the city and were asked to work with universities and schools during our deployments.

Can you say more about these educational initiatives?

It was a natural progression for us to move towards supporting schools and universities, after using our academic networks to good effect in Zaporizhzhia. We met Yuriy, now our education co-ordinator, through his translation work with the National Police. Yuriy works in several institutions, having taken on extra teaching roles to compensate for those that have left or been called up to serve. We discussed the challenges faced by the universities and schools in the frontline regions and we visited some institutions to see how learning was continuing.

What were some of the challenges?

Many school classes had moved into universities without an opportunity to bring their classroom equipment, while older school children and university students were using apparatus in buildings regularly hit by airstrikes. After discussions with officials at the University of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic, we developed a long-term plan for how Casus Pax might assist. They were keen on developing connections with researchers and institutions to facilitate outreach and cultural exchange. International collaboration collapsed post invasion and without it, academic aspiration has weakened.

What did this involve?

Our first delivery of aid to the university included medical equipment to bolster the university’s bomb shelter reserves and response capacity. But we also supplied 20 Micro:bit kits, which were donated to us by BBC Micro:bit. The University of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic had previously been using Micro:bits in limited numbers to develop robotics and computing skills. But the university did not have enough to efficiently roll out courses. Now they do and we want to connect schools in the UK with those in Ukraine so that they can run Micro:bit classes in tandem. This has educational benefits but is also morale boosting.

How challenging is it for students?

It’s very hard for a young person to try and compartmentalize war and focus on studies and career ambitions. But the students are remarkable. Thousands of schools have suffered significant damage during the war and have had to close. Tens of thousands of internally displaced students also attend schools in safer areas often under the auspices of universities. This is not unusual, it is the norm. Education is continuing because of the commitment that a reduced number of staff have to the future of their students.

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What future plans do you have for education?

In the coming months we will be hosting a platform where researchers can guest lecture remotely about their work or interests at the University of Zaporizhzhia Polytechnic. We want to expand this model to cover the whole of Ukraine, and in time take it international. We hope to have thousands of online resources available by 2025 that can be used anywhere.

Above all else we need donations and sponsorship. The equipment we supply saves lives and we need to continue with this work

What do you also hope for Casus Pax in the future?

We would like to keep our team relatively small, which means it is easier to ensure that every penny is accounted for. At the same time, we need to expand the reach of our operations. Every day we have desperate requests for urgent and often complex medical support – not only from Ukraine but elsewhere too – and sadly the only limiting factor is funding.

What kind of support do you need to achieve this?

Above all else we need donations and sponsorship. The equipment we supply saves lives and we need to continue with this work alongside the new education initiatives. Without financial support the whole operation will stop. We are also asking anyone who is interested to come forward and help, especially those keen to do outreach work.