It was Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen\u2019s sixth trip to Kyiv, Ukraine.<\/p>\n
By then, he had experienced the air raid sirens many times: the loud, wailing sound designed to make people react immediately, ringing out across the city up to 20 times a day.<\/p>\n
And although it was not the first time the sound had jolted him awake in terror in the middle of the night, this time would be different.<\/p>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen had once again set aside part of his summer holiday to drive a used van from Denmark to Ukraine. He had dropped it off at a meeting point near the city and would spend the next few days in Kyiv before returning to Denmark.<\/p>\n
He had checked into a hotel in the city only a few hours earlier when the air raid siren woke him at one in the morning. He jumped up to do what you always do when the siren sounds: check various Telegram channels for information about where the attack is heading and how severe it is.<\/p>\n
There are drones \u2013 these trigger a \u2018yellow alert\u2019. And then there is everything from glide bombs, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. These weapons can destroy entire buildings and more, and when they are on their way, they trigger a \u2018red alert\u2019.<\/p>\n
That night, the alert was red, and ballistic missiles could have been heading straight for his hotel. He rushed down to the street to seek shelter underground at the nearest metro station, 200 metres from the hotel.<\/p>\n
He sheltered there until the all-clear sounded. It turned out that the attack had struck a little further away.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt was really frightening. I\u2019m 51 years old, big and strong, but when I heard the dull thuds of missiles hitting in the summer night, I was scared,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen is a teaching associate professor at UCPH. He has taught Russian for the past 25 years and held a permanent, full-time position for the past ten.<\/p>\n
He has followed Russia since the early 1990s, when everything was \u00bbin flux\u00ab and there was a belief that the country had a great future ahead of it.<\/p>\n
\u00bbI first went to Russia in 1993. It was just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The 1990s were a chaotic time of hyperinflation, mafias and internal power struggles, but there was still a sense of optimism and faith in the future,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
The country I have spent so many years studying, my object of study, has chosen the wrong side of history<\/p>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
It was equal parts fascination and awe that drew him to Russia\u2019s language and culture in the 1990s. But after following the country for decades, his fascination has faded.<\/p>\n
\u00bbVladimir Putin became president in 2000, and he has essentially been president ever since, apart from a brief period when he had a stand-in. The constitution was changed so he could remain president for life,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbSince then, Russia has gone from being a country that may have had positive aspirations to one that today might more accurately be described as an outright dictatorship.\u00ab<\/p>\n
A professional trigger<\/h3>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen teaches Russian at all levels, often using newspaper clippings or other current material from the Russian media.<\/p>\n
This has allowed him, as he puts it, to \u00bbwatch a country\u2019s dramatic decline unfold on camera\u00ab \u2013 a decline that began when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and escalated with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n
When that happened, it \u00bbtriggered\u00ab something in Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n
\u00bbI feel that the country I have spent so many years studying, my object of study, has chosen the wrong side of history. I had never been particularly involved in voluntary organisations before, but here I felt I had to do something,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
He continues:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI can\u2019t change Russia\u2019s foolish decisions, but I can do something to help those who have been attacked without any provocation by a major military power.\u00ab<\/p>\n
So he decided to join an organisation where he could do something very tangible: drive used cars the roughly 2,000 kilometres from Zealand to Kyiv, so they could be used on the front lines to evacuate the wounded or transport personnel and equipment.<\/p>\n
Cars for Ukraine<\/h3>\n
The organisation is called Biler til Ukraine<\/em> (Cars for Ukraine, ed.) and over the past three years, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen has driven six vehicles to the country.<\/p>\n
\u00bbMy first trip was during the Easter holidays in 2023. I got into an old Suzuki Vitara and set off with a handful of other Danes. We always drive through Europe in a convoy of six or seven cars,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
According to the organisation, each vehicle saves 30\u201340 lives, and almost 1,000 vehicles have been delivered to the country so far. Biler til Ukraine works with the Ukrainian organisation Initiative E+, and each time a vehicle is handed over, a report is drawn up to ensure it does not end up on the black market instead of helping on the front lines, the teaching associate professor says.<\/p>\n
\n
\nSometimes the vehicles have to be delivered to secret locations, where drivers must switch off all mobile data and location services. When driving in Ukraine, they always stay in touch with one another by walkie-talkie.<\/p>\n\u00bbWe are driving into a country at war, after all, so you never know what might happen,\u00ab says Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n
The journey from Denmark through Europe usually goes smoothly, but problems can arise at the Polish-Ukrainian border.<\/p>\n
\u00bbCrossing the border can be a bureaucratic nightmare. Sometimes it takes two or three hours; other times, up to 20. There is a lot of paperwork to complete, and Polish border control is not known for providing top-notch service,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIf the Ukrainians run, I run too\u00ab<\/h3>\n
Once the vehicles have been handed over to the right people, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen usually stays in Kyiv for a day or two before heading home.<\/p>\n
And that brings us back to where we started, because in Kyiv, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen experiences first-hand what it means to live in a constant state of alert.<\/p>\n
He has experienced the air raid sirens often enough for them mostly to have become \u00bbbusiness as usual\u00ab \u2013 even though he knows that people continue to die in drone or missile attacks in the city every day.<\/p>\n
Perhaps they have put the children in the bathtub to give them a little protection. That is the reality people live in<\/p>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u00bbWe were once having breakfast at a pavement caf\u00e9 when the air raid siren sounded. We checked the Telegram channels and could see that the attack wasn\u2019t heading for where we were. But you can never be completely sure. Some new drivers had joined us, and they hurried towards the metro to be on the safe side, but several of us stayed where we were,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbI\u2019ve started following the rule that if the Ukrainians run, I run too.\u00ab<\/p>\n
You never become immune to the sound of an air raid siren and the constant threat of a bombing, but for many Ukrainians living in the city, life goes on, says Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThe air raid sirens sound so often that I think many Ukrainians now wake up, roll over and go back to sleep. You can\u2019t go down to a shelter that many times a day,\u00ab he says, continuing:<\/p>\n
\u00bbPerhaps they have started sleeping in the hallway so they aren\u2019t right next to a window if a drone attack hits. And perhaps they have put the children in the bathtub to give them a little protection. That is the reality people live in.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Between friends and enemies<\/h3>\n
Before the war broke out, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen regularly visited Russia, where he has an extensive professional network.<\/p>\n
But since becoming actively involved in helping Ukraine and publicly expressing his views on the war and Russia, his prospects of entering the country have changed dramatically.<\/p>\n
\u00bbToday, I face around 15 years in prison if I enter Russia. A couple of years ago, a law was passed under which providing material, financial or other support to Ukraine\u2019s defence carries a sentence in that range.\u00ab<\/p>\n
You could compare it to walking around speaking German in Denmark in 1945. That wouldn\u2019t have gone down well either<\/p>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen remains in touch with those of his Russian acquaintances who do not necessarily support the war their country has started \u2013 and, crucially, who can access Facebook through a VPN, as the platform is banned in Russia.<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe wish each other happy birthday and merry Christmas, and that way we know we\u2019re still around. But we don\u2019t openly discuss much else, because it could have unintended consequences for those who are in Russia.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Some former Russian friends, however, have now cut off contact with Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n
\u00bbSome have hurled abuse at me and called me the worst names in the Russian language on social media because I said I thought it was wrong for Russia to invade its neighbouring country,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbAnd not everyone necessarily agrees with that.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Like speaking German in 1945<\/h3>\n
The last time Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen travelled to Ukraine to deliver another vehicle, he used two days of annual leave and a weekend. That was in August 2026.<\/p>\n
In June 2025, he turned 50 and threw a big party. Instead of gifts, he asked his guests to donate to Biler til Ukraine. The fundraiser raised DKK 27,000, which was used to buy more used vehicles.<\/p>\n
He has not made his last trip, he says. He has even started learning Ukrainian with a teacher who lives in Kyiv and whom he meets when he is in the country.<\/p>\n
\u00bbLast time, I went to her mother\u2019s birthday party,\u00ab he says, showing me photographs from the celebration.<\/p>\n
Previously, he could get by in the country speaking Russian, but that is not particularly well received, he says.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt\u2019s a great advantage that I\u2019m beginning to be able to get by in Ukrainian. It\u2019s easier when you aren\u2019t automatically seen as a representative of Russia,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n
\u00bbHistorically, the language has been an instrument of power used by the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union when they brought new territories under their control. A process of Russification would begin, forcing people to speak Russian.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Most Ukrainians can understand and speak Russian, but many choose not to use it at all, he says.<\/p>\n
\u00bbYou could compare it to walking around speaking German in Denmark in 1945. That wouldn\u2019t have gone down well either.\u00ab<\/p>\n
This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and subsequently reviewed by a member of the editorial staff.<\/em>
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In his spare time, he helps Ukraine"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/1e4195d7a29af9515c79f62e39cc8b9b","name":"Camilla Skovgaard","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0041bcbe7878ff0a96907c167293ec08051266fb28cdc0ef44598cb0049b5288?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0041bcbe7878ff0a96907c167293ec08051266fb28cdc0ef44598cb0049b5288?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0041bcbe7878ff0a96907c167293ec08051266fb28cdc0ef44598cb0049b5288?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Camilla Skovgaard"},"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/camilla-skovgaard-thomsen\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"expression":{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":858,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"aligncenter","feature_color":"#f4e400","article_updated":"","layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"default","highlighted_words":"","text_size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":193735,"id":193735,"title":"Mads biler","filename":"madsbiler.jpg","filesize":131866,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/i-arbejdstiden-underviser-han-i-russisk-i-fritiden-hjaelper-han-ukraine\/mads-biler\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"","name":"mads-biler","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":193734,"date":"2026-09-23 10:11:05","modified":"2026-09-23 10:11:13","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":832,"height":612,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-480x353.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":353,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-768x565.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":565,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","large-width":832,"large-height":612,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","1536x1536-width":832,"1536x1536-height":612,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","2048x2048-width":832,"2048x2048-height":612,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-290x213.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":213,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler-700x515.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":515,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","extended-width":832,"extended-height":612}},"style":"extended","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"A yellow VW Caddy is among the vehicles Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen has driven to Ukraine over the past three years. It was chosen for its spacious cargo area, which can be used to evacuate the wounded, for example."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Resistance","text":"When Russia chose \u00bbthe wrong side of history\u00ab, teaching associate professor Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen could no longer remain a spectator. He now spends his annual leave and his own money driving vehicles to Ukraine, where they help on the front lines \u2013 even though this means risking 15 years in prison in the country he has spent his entire working life studying.","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>It was Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen\u2019s sixth trip to Kyiv, Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>By then, he had experienced the air raid sirens many times: the loud, wailing sound designed to make people react immediately, ringing out across the city up to 20 times a day.<\/p>\n<p>And although it was not the first time the sound had jolted him awake in terror in the middle of the night, this time would be different.<\/p>\n<p>Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen had once again set aside part of his summer holiday to drive a used van from Denmark to Ukraine. He had dropped it off at a meeting point near the city and would spend the next few days in Kyiv before returning to Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>He had checked into a hotel in the city only a few hours earlier when the air raid siren woke him at one in the morning. He jumped up to do what you always do when the siren sounds: check various Telegram channels for information about where the attack is heading and how severe it is.<\/p>\n<p>There are drones \u2013 these trigger a \u2018yellow alert\u2019. And then there is everything from glide bombs, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. These weapons can destroy entire buildings and more, and when they are on their way, they trigger a \u2018red alert\u2019.<\/p>\n<p>That night, the alert was red, and ballistic missiles could have been heading straight for his hotel. He rushed down to the street to seek shelter underground at the nearest metro station, 200 metres from the hotel.<\/p>\n<p>He sheltered there until the all-clear sounded. It turned out that the attack had struck a little further away.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt was really frightening. I\u2019m 51 years old, big and strong, but when I heard the dull thuds of missiles hitting in the summer night, I was scared,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<h3>From greatness to decline<\/h3>\n<p>Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen is a teaching associate professor at UCPH. He has taught Russian for the past 25 years and held a permanent, full-time position for the past ten.<\/p>\n<p>He has followed Russia since the early 1990s, when everything was \u00bbin flux\u00ab and there was a belief that the country had a great future ahead of it.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI first went to Russia in 1993. It was just after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The 1990s were a chaotic time of hyperinflation, mafias and internal power struggles, but there was still a sense of optimism and faith in the future,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The country I have spent so many years studying, my object of study, has chosen the wrong side of history<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It was equal parts fascination and awe that drew him to Russia\u2019s language and culture in the 1990s. But after following the country for decades, his fascination has faded.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbVladimir Putin became president in 2000, and he has essentially been president ever since, apart from a brief period when he had a stand-in. The constitution was changed so he could remain president for life,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSince then, Russia has gone from being a country that may have had positive aspirations to one that today might more accurately be described as an outright dictatorship.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>A professional trigger<\/h3>\n<p>Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen teaches Russian at all levels, often using newspaper clippings or other current material from the Russian media.<\/p>\n<p>This has allowed him, as he puts it, to \u00bbwatch a country\u2019s dramatic decline unfold on camera\u00ab \u2013 a decline that began when Russia occupied the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and escalated with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>When that happened, it \u00bbtriggered\u00ab something in Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI feel that the country I have spent so many years studying, my object of study, has chosen the wrong side of history. I had never been particularly involved in voluntary organisations before, but here I felt I had to do something,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>He continues:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI can\u2019t change Russia\u2019s foolish decisions, but I can do something to help those who have been attacked without any provocation by a major military power.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>So he decided to join an organisation where he could do something very tangible: drive used cars the roughly 2,000 kilometres from Zealand to Kyiv, so they could be used on the front lines to evacuate the wounded or transport personnel and equipment.<\/p>\n<h3>Cars for Ukraine<\/h3>\n<p>The organisation is called <em>Biler til Ukraine<\/em> (Cars for Ukraine, ed.) and over the past three years, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen has driven six vehicles to the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbMy first trip was during the Easter holidays in 2023. I got into an old Suzuki Vitara and set off with a handful of other Danes. We always drive through Europe in a convoy of six or seven cars,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<p>According to the organisation, each vehicle saves 30\u201340 lives, and almost 1,000 vehicles have been delivered to the country so far. Biler til Ukraine works with the Ukrainian organisation Initiative E+, and each time a vehicle is handed over, a report is drawn up to ensure it does not end up on the black market instead of helping on the front lines, the teaching associate professor says.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"MultiImage","images":[{"image":{"ID":193741,"id":193741,"title":"biler2","filename":"biler2.jpg","filesize":279247,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/i-arbejdstiden-underviser-han-i-russisk-i-fritiden-hjaelper-han-ukraine\/biler2\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"","name":"biler2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":193734,"date":"2026-09-23 10:47:55","modified":"2026-09-23 10:48:05","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":846,"height":631,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-480x358.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":358,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-768x573.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":573,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2.jpg","large-width":846,"large-height":631,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2.jpg","1536x1536-width":846,"1536x1536-height":631,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2.jpg","2048x2048-width":846,"2048x2048-height":631,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-290x216.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":216,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2-700x522.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":522,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler2.jpg","extended-width":846,"extended-height":631}},"caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen takes many photographs on his trips. This one shows the memorial on Maidan Square in central Kyiv."},{"image":{"ID":193739,"id":193739,"title":"biler3","filename":"biler3.jpg","filesize":301563,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/i-arbejdstiden-underviser-han-i-russisk-i-fritiden-hjaelper-han-ukraine\/biler3\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"","name":"biler3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":193734,"date":"2026-09-23 10:47:54","modified":"2026-09-23 10:48:19","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1115,"height":807,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-480x347.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":347,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-768x556.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":556,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3.jpg","large-width":1115,"large-height":807,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3.jpg","1536x1536-width":1115,"1536x1536-height":807,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3.jpg","2048x2048-width":1115,"2048x2048-height":807,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-290x210.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":210,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-700x507.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":507,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler3-990x717.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":717}},"caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"There is a flag for every fallen soldier."},{"image":{"ID":193737,"id":193737,"title":"biler4","filename":"biler4.jpg","filesize":144829,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/i-arbejdstiden-underviser-han-i-russisk-i-fritiden-hjaelper-han-ukraine\/biler4\/","alt":"","author":"99","description":"","caption":"","name":"biler4","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":193734,"date":"2026-09-23 10:47:52","modified":"2026-09-23 10:47:52","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":837,"height":628,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-480x360.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":360,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4.jpg","large-width":837,"large-height":628,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4.jpg","1536x1536-width":837,"1536x1536-height":628,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4.jpg","2048x2048-width":837,"2048x2048-height":628,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-290x218.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":218,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4-700x525.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":525,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/biler4.jpg","extended-width":837,"extended-height":628}},"caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"Bombed-out vehicles are on display in the square outside Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs."}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>Sometimes the vehicles have to be delivered to secret locations, where drivers must switch off all mobile data and location services. When driving in Ukraine, they always stay in touch with one another by walkie-talkie.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe are driving into a country at war, after all, so you never know what might happen,\u00ab says Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n<p>The journey from Denmark through Europe usually goes smoothly, but problems can arise at the Polish-Ukrainian border.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbCrossing the border can be a bureaucratic nightmare. Sometimes it takes two or three hours; other times, up to 20. There is a lot of paperwork to complete, and Polish border control is not known for providing top-notch service,\u00ab he says.<\/p>\n<h3>\u00bbIf the Ukrainians run, I run too\u00ab<\/h3>\n<p>Once the vehicles have been handed over to the right people, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen usually stays in Kyiv for a day or two before heading home.<\/p>\n<p>And that brings us back to where we started, because in Kyiv, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen experiences first-hand what it means to live in a constant state of alert.<\/p>\n<p>He has experienced the air raid sirens often enough for them mostly to have become \u00bbbusiness as usual\u00ab \u2013 even though he knows that people continue to die in drone or missile attacks in the city every day.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Perhaps they have put the children in the bathtub to give them a little protection. That is the reality people live in<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00bbWe were once having breakfast at a pavement caf\u00e9 when the air raid siren sounded. We checked the Telegram channels and could see that the attack wasn\u2019t heading for where we were. But you can never be completely sure. Some new drivers had joined us, and they hurried towards the metro to be on the safe side, but several of us stayed where we were,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI\u2019ve started following the rule that if the Ukrainians run, I run too.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>You never become immune to the sound of an air raid siren and the constant threat of a bombing, but for many Ukrainians living in the city, life goes on, says Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe air raid sirens sound so often that I think many Ukrainians now wake up, roll over and go back to sleep. You can\u2019t go down to a shelter that many times a day,\u00ab he says, continuing:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbPerhaps they have started sleeping in the hallway so they aren\u2019t right next to a window if a drone attack hits. And perhaps they have put the children in the bathtub to give them a little protection. That is the reality people live in.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Between friends and enemies<\/h3>\n<p>Before the war broke out, Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen regularly visited Russia, where he has an extensive professional network.<\/p>\n<p>But since becoming actively involved in helping Ukraine and publicly expressing his views on the war and Russia, his prospects of entering the country have changed dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbToday, I face around 15 years in prison if I enter Russia. A couple of years ago, a law was passed under which providing material, financial or other support to Ukraine\u2019s defence carries a sentence in that range.\u00ab<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You could compare it to walking around speaking German in Denmark in 1945. That wouldn\u2019t have gone down well either<\/p>\n<p class=\"quotee\">Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen, teaching associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen remains in touch with those of his Russian acquaintances who do not necessarily support the war their country has started \u2013 and, crucially, who can access Facebook through a VPN, as the platform is banned in Russia.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe wish each other happy birthday and merry Christmas, and that way we know we\u2019re still around. But we don\u2019t openly discuss much else, because it could have unintended consequences for those who are in Russia.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Some former Russian friends, however, have now cut off contact with Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSome have hurled abuse at me and called me the worst names in the Russian language on social media because I said I thought it was wrong for Russia to invade its neighbouring country,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd not everyone necessarily agrees with that.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Like speaking German in 1945<\/h3>\n<p>The last time Mads B\u00fcchert Eskildsen travelled to Ukraine to deliver another vehicle, he used two days of annual leave and a weekend. That was in August 2026.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2025, he turned 50 and threw a big party. Instead of gifts, he asked his guests to donate to Biler til Ukraine. The fundraiser raised DKK 27,000, which was used to buy more used vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>He has not made his last trip, he says. He has even started learning Ukrainian with a teacher who lives in Kyiv and whom he meets when he is in the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbLast time, I went to her mother\u2019s birthday party,\u00ab he says, showing me photographs from the celebration.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, he could get by in the country speaking Russian, but that is not particularly well received, he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt\u2019s a great advantage that I\u2019m beginning to be able to get by in Ukrainian. It\u2019s easier when you aren\u2019t automatically seen as a representative of Russia,\u00ab he says, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbHistorically, the language has been an instrument of power used by the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union when they brought new territories under their control. A process of Russification would begin, forcing people to speak Russian.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Most Ukrainians can understand and speak Russian, but many choose not to use it at all, he says.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbYou could compare it to walking around speaking German in Denmark in 1945. That wouldn\u2019t have gone down well either.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and subsequently reviewed by a member of the editorial staff.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and news from University of Copenhagen in your inbox every two weeks","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":45,"name":"International","slug":"international","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":316,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":5271,"name":"rusland","slug":"rusland-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5271,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":8937,"name":"russisk","slug":"russisk","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":8937,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":237,"name":"ToRS","slug":"tors-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":237,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":5272,"name":"ukraine","slug":"ukraine-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5272,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":12,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":858,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":704,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/madsbiler.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194439"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":194445,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194439\/revisions\/194445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}