People are dying and we made this film to remind the world there's a war going on - Sunderland filmmaker returns from Ukraine

The words of young Sunderland filmmaker Corey Muizelaar who has recently returned from the Ukrainian frontline and has made a documentary, along with his fellow presenters and producers, about their mercy mission to the war-torn country.

During the group’s month long mission to the warzone, Corey and the rest of the volunteers, including Joel McShane, 26, from Seaham, took emergency medical supplies to Ukrainian soldiers, rescued those injured in combat and in need of medical treatment, and visited a Ukrainian Airforce base.

Corey, 25, who lives in Penshaw, said: “We weren’t allowed to take supplies right to the frontline due to the risk. We had to drop them off to be delivered.

“Just driving around the area close to the frontline was pretty scary. There was netting in case of drone attacks and the roads were really bad.

“The most frightening part of my time in Ukraine was when we joined an ambulance crew to bring soldiers back from the frontline to get hospital treatment.

“Some the injuries were horrific and many of the soldiers are my age and younger. They would rather fight until their last breath than give any of their country up to Russia.”

The team also visited some of the pilots and aircraft crew defending Ukraine’s skies.

Corey, who returned to Sunderland on November 24, added: “We visited the air force warm cemetery and most of the crew we spoke with had already lost friends in combat. One of the people named on a gravestone was born in 2008.”

Even after returning to Kyiv, hundreds of miles away from the frontline, the horrors and fear of war for people trying to live their lives was never too far away.

Corey said: “The week before we left Ukraine, Kyiv came under a barrage of attack from 420 drone strikes. It was like the the Second World War; every time the air raid siren went off we had to go head to the air raid shelter.

“You could feel the floor shake - it was pretty scary.”

Corey is a director at Sunderland based film company Studio Muiz who created the documentary in partnership with Truemoon Pictures, who are also based in Sunderland.

With the ‘From Sunderland to Ukraine’ documentary now complete, the Sunderland filmmakers are in the process of pitching the production to both terrestrial and online television companies, with the hope in will be screened early in the new year (2026).

Corey said: “I’ve never seen such a group of people with such togetherness and determined to fight for their freedom.

“However, a lot of the people we spoke with feel forgotten and wanted to speak with us to get their plight back out there.

“Hopefully this documentary can help to do just that.”

The final cut of the documentary was 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 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.

He said he hopes to return to Ukraine in February to volunteer as a medic.