Gordon Hunter, Iwan Tukalo: Two Souters - an Unfinished Ukrainian Journey

At Thursday’s meeting members were given an enlightening and at times very moving presentation by Gordon Hunter and Iwan Tukalo about their Unfinished Ukrainian Journey.

Former Scottish rugby stars Gordon and Iwan both attended Royal High School in Edinburgh where they formed a lifelong friendship. Both went on to play for Selkirk, the South and then Scotland, Gordon being involved in Scotland’s second successful Grand Slam campaign in 1984 and Iwan being involved in Scotland’s third successful Grand Slam in 1990.

Gordon and Iwan were not there to talk about their rugby careers, but instead to talk about their involvement in taking much needed aid to Ukraine.

Iwan led the talk by introducing his father Dmytro’s backstory – as a young 18 year old he was conscripted into the German army. He was captured, taken first to a POW camp in Italy then transferred to a POW camp in Scotland at East Fortune. When he was released at the end of the war, he set up his own business in Corstorphine, Edinburgh where he met Iwan’s mother Rosina, who had fled war-torn Italy with her two sisters. Sadly, he never got back to his home in Ukraine, Dmytro died suddenly in 1994 while planning his long awaited return trip to Ukraine.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Iwan committed himself to helping his country in any way he could. He became involved with a Scottish charity which had already helped bring over food and medical aid into Ukraine and when he discovered their aid convoy, on its way to the final destination, actually went past his father’s village of Nyzhniv in the southwest of the country, he jumped at the chance to complete his father’s dream of being able to finally go home.

Iwan then went on to describe the emotional homecoming and the meeting up for the first time with his aunt. He further went on to talk about the excellent work carried out by the charity “Breaking the Chains” with the aid of photographs and videos which harrowingly illustrated the devastation and despair in villages close to the front line and how this charity rescued animals from the war zone and distributed “survival kits” to the residents of ruined villages who had lost everything. The vehicles that were used to transport this aid were then put to good use including transporting the injured from the front line.

In conclusion, Iwan and Gordon said that their trips taking much needed aid over to Ukraine. although quite harrowing and emotional at times were immensely rewarding. They went on to say how extremely grateful they were for the help they have received from their friends and connections from the rugby playing community, including fellow Scotland stars Colin Deans and Finlay Calder.

A heartfelt vote of thanks was given by George Thorburn.

At a later meeting, club members agreed a donation of £400 to support Iwan and Gordon in their work for Ukraine.