The metal plate in his knee from a racetrack crash he suffered years ago, means Dmitriy is ineligible for military service. When Russia attacked, he searched for a way to help the war effort by any means available. A few of his friends devised a plan to deliver aid to the civilians that had remained in Kherson, a city on the edge of the war zone. Dmitriy volunteered to join them, but only an hour into distributing food and other amenities, a military officer warned of an imminent Russian attack and advised they leave immediately. Almost on cue, rockets began to rain down. The small crew barely escaped by driving on the wrong side of the highway, past the column of vehicles attempting to flee the city and at points needed to take cover in the trees on the side of the road when the shelling was too close to continue.

Dmitriy’s wife, Ana, was irate and, after catching an earful of her wrath over the phone, he vowed that he would not go into any active war zones again. His next opportunity to assist in the conflict came quickly and unexpectedly. While on the road back to Odessa, a soldier at a military checkpoint recognized him as the famous drift car driver and asked for assistance in fixing up his military SUV that was badly in need of repair. Dmitriy gave him the address to his race shop and later that day outfitted the decrepit vehicle with a bigger set of tires, some light armor plating, and a change of fluids. Word got around that he could fix and improve vehicles and soon an almost constant flow of Ukrainian soldiers started showing up in need of help.

With his mechanical mastery and his connections with parts sponsors out of the country, Dmitriy was able to take care of hundreds of vehicles. However, they were being destroyed faster than he could repair them. It was time for a new plan, so he decided to import used SUV’s from other places in Europe. A national decree that no men could leave the country meant that he could not retrieve them himself, but Dmitriy’s female friend and fellow mechanic, Leina, who had remained in the country, volunteered to take a transport rig across the border to aquire whatever cars Dmitriy could find for sale online.

When asked how many cars he has fixed up and/or imported, he replied, “I have no idea. I lost track. I don’t think there is a single Nissan SUV left in the entirety of Europe.”

For the last year and a half, Dmitriy has been utilizing his skills as a master mechanic, his ability to import and export vehicles, and sponsor connections to help in the war effort. After going through the necessary paperwork late last year, Dmitriy is now allowed to move freely across the border to visit his family as often as he can. At the start of the war, Ana and their two sons took refuge with friends in Switzerland and have now acquired a flat of their own in Geneva where the boys attend school. The younger is already fluent in Swiss French, which Dmitriy finds to be a bitter sweet outcome in a time of traumatic change. “I just want my family to be home, where they belong, but I’m glad my boys are getting a good education.”