I want to raise awareness and help people - Meet the young Sunderland film maker on mercy mission to Ukraine frontline

The words of young Sunderland film maker Corey Muizelaar, who is about to embark on a mercy mission to the Ukraine frontline where he will be joined by a team of three other volunteers, including Joel McShane, 26, from Seaham.

On October 28, Corey and his fellow volunteers will set off from Sunderland in their truck specially purchased for the journey where they have also been equipped with bullet proof vests and helmets.

Corey, 25, who lives in Penshaw, said: “We are going to be heading to Donetsk and Kharkiv, two cities on the Ukrainian frontline. We are going to be delivering medical supplies to the Ukrainian soldiers including bleed kits, bandages, tourniquet - to stop battlefield blood loss - and individual first aid kits.

“I’m excited about going, but I don’t think the reality has quite hit home yet. We are going to be in an active combat zone and there is a chance of being bombed or shot.

“As well as using the vehicle to drop off supplies, we are also going to be using it to help to evacuate people who want to escape the war zone.”

One person who knows the true reality about to be faced is fellow team member Alastair Chambers who has been on previous mercy missions to support the work of Volunteers for Ukraine.

Alastair, 26, said: “I went out there in May to drop off supplies. Despite being labelled with ‘Humanitarian Aid’, the vehicle was attacked by the Russians and a journalist was killed.

“I had to give evidence about this incident to the War Crimes Office.”

As well as delivering the potentially life saving equipment, Corey and the rest of the team want to “bring the conflict back to people’s attention”.

Entitled ‘Front Line - From Sunderland to Ukraine’ the film will document the brutal reality of the ongoing conflict as well as the horrors of war being faced everyday by the Ukrainian people.

Corey, who is a director at Sunderland based film company Studio Muiz, said: “We are going to be in direct exposure to combat. We are going to be visiting and speaking with some of Ukrainian pilots and soldiers involved in the conflict as well as a group of ex UK and US special forces who are fighting for Ukraine.

“We will also be speaking with ordinary people and visiting a local dog shelter, where we also be taking supplies.”

The team will be in Ukraine until November 20 with footage captured being edited by Executive Producer Carley Armstrong who has worked on popular TV programmes including Adolescence and Brassic as well as the recent Mission Impossible movie.

The documentary is being made in collaboration with Truemoon Pictures, who are also based in Sunderland.

Corey said: “We want this documentary to get as much exposure as possible and have already had letters of interest from terrestrial TV channels.”

The project is being funded by Volunteers for Ukraine as well as some of the teams’ own money. Corey said any profits made from the film will be reinvested into supporting people in Ukraine.

The final remaining member of the team of four is Damien Dowdle from Texas.