Russian doctor to row Atlantic to help Ukraine medics

Leo Krivski is preparing to row across the Atlantic to raise money for medical supplies in Ukraine

"I think it's good to test yourself to see who you really are" - the words of a doctor about to take on a solo row across the Atlantic.

Moscow-born Leo Krivski has been raising money to support medics in Ukraine through a charity he founded a year ago, called Ukrops.

Now, in a bid to raise more money and awareness of aid requirements in the country, he is preparing to set sail.

Mr Krivski, who works as a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospital Southampton, says the challenge could take anywhere between two to three months.

Mr Krivski started driving medical equipment over to Ukraine after Russia invaded in 2022

Talking to BBC Radio Solent ahead of his departure on Thursday 12 December, Mr Krivski said he wasn't feeling intimidated by the challenge as he's been too busy preparing.

He explained: "It's unpredictable, I'm stocking up for 100 days. I haven't had time to actually sit down and let it sink in, I just think about it in practical terms."

Mr Krivski is determined to take on the row to raise more money for fellow medics in Ukraine.

Having grown up in Russia, he says he witnessed how Ukrainians were treated from a young age, but as his mother was from the country he visited regularly - later working with Ukrainian medics in Crimea in 2014.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he said his wife's parents were in Kyiv and he was "horrified" to see it under attack.

Mr Krivski has been fundraising through his charity Ukrops and working with medics in Ukraine to deliver equipment

Mr Krivski started volunteering, making contacts and driving medical equipment over to Ukraine and eventually setting up Ukrops.

He continued: "I've made quite strong connections and friends who can make a difference.

"We can have long lasting impact, it's all personal, it's all medics to medics and I have contacts on the ground so we can use the money in the best way we can."

Mr Krivski has been busy preparing himself for the row with weight lifting sessions in the gym and rowing on the Solent.

He said it will be thinking about raising money for the charity that will "give him strength" while he sails the Atlantic.

Mr Krivski added: "That and the friends, colleagues and family who have signed my cabin with various inspirational things, just looking at that I think will be empowering - and thinking about my Ukrainian colleagues and military people having much worse conditions not of their choosing.

"I realise it's going to be horrible at times but I'm looking forward to it, I think it's good to test yourself to see who you really are, so I'm looking forward to discovering who I really am."