Tag Archives: Ukraine

Charity & CSR, International News, Logistics, News

Kinaxia Logistics collects 10 tonnes of aid for Ukrainian refugees

A logistics company has delivered 10 tonnes of aid to Ukrainian refugees in Poland after an appeal for clothing, baby supplies, toiletries and food received a bumper response from staff and customers.

Employees of Kinaxia Logistics, their families and friends rallied round along with clients of the nationwide group to donate thousands of items over a four-week period.

The goods were collected from the group’s sites across the country and taken to Kinaxia company Mark Thompson Transport in Warrington for wrapping and packing.

A Mark Thompson Transport warehouse team stacked the donated items on 26 pallets which were loaded on to a truck and driven to the town of Zamość, which is 40 miles from the Ukrainian border.

Kinaxia driver Tomasz Konarski, 42, who is from Poland and lives in Chester, volunteered to travel to his home country to deliver the much-needed aid.

His route took him via Dover, Calais, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany before he arrived in Poland after a four-day journey of 1,400 miles.

“I was happy to help. It was a good thing to do and greatly appreciated,” said Tomasz.

The mission was coordinated by Dave Cork, senior operations manager at Mark Thompson Transport.

He said: “It was a fantastic effort by our staff, their families and friends and our customers.

“The trailer was full of items generously donated from across the country, including clothing for men, women and children, nappies, baby medicines, rice and other foodstuffs, toiletries, sleeping bags and bottled water.

“The aid will make a tremendous difference to the lives of Ukrainians who have fled their homeland and sought refuge in neighbouring Poland.”

Kinaxia chief executive Simon Hobbs said: “The response to our appeal was truly heart-warming and inspiring. It was great to see our Kinaxia family and our customers coming together to offer support to the people of Ukraine in this way.”

Kinaxia Logistics has its headquarters in Macclesfield and comprises 13 freight and logistics businesses across the UK with over 1,800 staff and more than 800 vehicles which transport goods for the retail, leisure, food and drink and manufacturing sectors.

The group has 2.7 million sq ft of warehouse facilities nationwide, offering contract packing, e-fulfilment, returns management and storage services.

Construction, Construction News, News, South West

RGB thanks the South West community for generous donations to Ukraine appeal

RGB Building Supplies is thanking those who donated to its appeal for essential items that could be passed on to Ukrainian citizens.

In support of the Builders Merchants Federation’s (BMF) national appeal, RGB received 13 bulk bags of donations. The bags usually hold around 800kg of sand or aggregates.

The donations included thermal clothing, bedding, sleeping bags, torches, first aid kits, toiletries, baby items, household cleaning items and non-perishable food.

All the donated items were delivered to the charity Feed the Hungry by Umberleigh-based RTD, which is part of the RGB Building Supplies group. Feed the Hungry will distribute the donated items to those in need.

Andy Gamble, Managing Director of RGB Building Supplies, commented:

“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who generously donated items to the appeal. Some of the people the items will be passed to have lost everything and are in a desperate situation – everything that has been given will be greatly appreciated and will help to change the lives of hundreds of people.”

News

Homes for Ukraine: “supporting the most vulnerable during their darkest hours”

Wayne Carlisle, IT Director, TALL Group, shares his experiences hosting a Ukranian family

When the government announced that anyone in the UK with a spare room can become a ‘sponsor’ as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, I knew that I had to help.  Watching the daily news and knowing that more than 4 million people have been forced to flee their homes since Russia launched its invasion on Ukraine is terrifying.

On the 18th March I applied to be considered for the scheme but ended up having to look for someone to sponsor myself.  Within minutes of posting an advert on a Ukrainian charity site I had 3 families wanting to escape Ukraine!

The family that I am sponsoring consist of a mother, son (Alexander), daughter in law and two children aged 3 and 13.  All 5 were staying in a hospital room on the outskirts of Warsaw.  Thankfully Alexander can speak excellent English and between us we managed to complete their visa applications.

The two women and children fled from Odessa to Warsaw via train, with just the bags they could carry and met up with Alexander.  He works on a ship and could not fly back to Ukraine due to the war – his brother (who is father to the children) also works on a ship and will not be back in a month’s time.

They eventually got an invitation for a visa interview at the British embassy in Warsaw and were told it will be around 7 days before they would hear back and know if they could travel to the UK. Once they received the signed documentation it took nearly two days for them to travel to Leicester.

We collected the family of 5 from Rugby railway station where all of their possessions (including a wheelchair and pushchair that they’d been gifted in Poland) managed to fit in 2 cars.  They were all warmly welcomed by my friends and family and have gratefully received donations of clothes and toys for the children.  The whole family have begun English lessons and are keen to find work while they are in the UK.  We are educating each other about our cultures – they’re introducing me to Ukrainian national dishes in exchange for some darts techniques! I hope to make them feel as safe and welcome as I can while they’re staying here.

 

News, Security

Egress Mid-Year Threat Report Details Scams Affecting Cryptocurrency-based Ukraine Donations, Job Seekers, Electronic Voters, and More

LONDON, UK – 18th May 2022 – Egress, the leading provider of intelligent email security, today issued its mid-year 2022 threat report offering details of emerging vulnerabilities along with insights, from the Egress threat intelligence team, about protecting employees, customers, and businesses from these specific cyberattacks.

The full report, available here: http://www.egress.com/resources/cybersecurity-information/threat-report-launch, provides comprehensive details about threats associated with scam cryptocurrency donations to war-torn Ukraine, email phishing attacks using LinkedIn to target jobseekers, a rise in sextortion phishing emails and zero-day exploits circulating on the dark web, targeting electronic voters as well as Facebook and Gmail users.

Scams Exploit Cryptocurrency-Based Ukraine Donations

Egress analysts have observed a surge in phishing attacks exploiting the war in Ukraine. Targeting individuals and organisations across the U.S. and the U.K., the emails impersonate display names and email addresses of well-known Ukrainian bodies. Examples include emails impersonating the Ukrainian Government asking for cryptocurrency donations to assist their war effort. Egress has located other emails impersonating the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, the Aid for Ukraine charity, The United Nations, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“To succeed, these attacks must bypass email defences and get a person to act, which relies on engendering emotional reactions to the needs of refugees and children,” explained Jack Chapman, Vice President of Threat Intelligence at Egress. “If you choose to donate cryptocurrency to a cause, use a reputable source to verify its authenticity and only use publicly available cryptocurrency addresses.”

LinkedIn Impersonation Targets Jobseekers

This email attack targets individuals and organisations in the U.S. and the U.K. using spoofed LinkedIn branding. It encourages targets to click on phishing links and enter credentials onto fraudulent websites, which are scraped when the victim believes they are logging in. Once the scam is completed, the victim is redirected to the real LinkedIn site, so they have no idea their credentials have been stolen and do not take remedial action such as changing their password.

“Current employment trends such as The Great Resignation help to make this attack more convincing by flattering jobseekers into believing their profile is being viewed and expertise is needed,” said Chapman. “We advise organisations to examine their current anti-phishing security stack to ensure they have intelligent controls that engage and warn the user of the threat. Meanwhile, individuals should take extreme caution when reading notification emails that request them to click on a hyperlink, particularly on mobile devices.”

Sextortion Phishing on the Rise

Egress researchers observed a 334% increase in sextortion attacks since March 2022. In these cases, sextortion-oriented phishing emails are targeting individuals and organisations across the U.S. and the U.K. through a variety of subject lines coercing victims to panic and click through for more information. Emails use emotive, threatening language to socially engineer their victim to extort payment. For example, one email states “I don’t think this kind of content would be very good for your reputation”. The attacks follow a similar format by stating the problem, threat, ‘solution’, the deadline to comply, and futility of reporting the incident.

“Phishing attacks like these try to use our own psychology – especially shame, panic, and fear – against us,” explained Chapman. “By providing a specific deadline, cybercriminals apply pressure on victims to comply quickly. Related to these scams our advice is simple – don’t pay the ransom.”

New Threats Target Electronic Voters, Facebook, and Gmail Users

This threat is targeting electronic voters as well as Facebook and Gmail users through zero-day exploits posted to Empire Market, a DarkWeb marketplace where exploits, phishing tools, and templates are available to purchase. Egress analysts found an electronic voting exploit for sale, which allows malicious software to be loaded onto voting machines. Another offers a way to take over a Facebook account through a password reset vulnerability to harvest victim information and make further phishing attacks more believable. A third exploit targets Gmail accounts remotely via a code injection allowing attackers to access accounts, regardless of two-factor authentication.

“New zero-day exploits are being discovered all the time,” added Chapman. “Social media accounts contain a host of information about people, such as date of birth, geographic locations, mother’s surname, and more. Our advice is to stay on top of the latest threats by keeping up with advice from your threat intelligence network.”

Charity & CSR, News, South East

Global E-commerce Experts team member takes 3,286-mile trip to her hometown in Romania to help child refugees

A TEAM member from a Southampton-based firm is making a trip to her hometown to deliver vital items to Ukrainian child refugees.

Claudia Groze, from Stubbington, was born in Prahova, Romania and moved to the UK to complete a degree in architecture.

The 38-year-old warehouse manager at Global Ecommerce Experts in Southampton is doing her bit to help people who have fled to her hometown from the war in Ukraine.

She is making a 3,286-mile round trip with a lorry-full of goods, donated by friends, family, colleagues and strangers, to donate to refugees in the county, which is in the South East of Romania.

She has been communicating with people in the county and will bring items such as food, medication, still water, cleaning products, clothing and more to help the more than 400 orphans and estranged children brought from Odessa.

Claudia said: ‘I was always concerned with the wellbeing of others, always trying to help anyone in need, and I think that if I manage to make a difference for one life, everything is worth it.

‘It made sense for me to go back to my hometown to help out there as it is so upsetting to see people who have fled their homes, especially children. It’s important that they get the help that they need, and it is down to people like me to do that, as I am fortunate enough to do so.’

Claudia has hired someone to take the lorry across to Romania, while she will fly across and oversee the distribution, ensuring that all of the items get to the people that need it most.

She is still seeking more donations so her help can go even further, appealing for items such as food, nappies, medication, hygiene equipment, childrens’ toys, games and anything else that children can use.

People can send donations directly to Claudia by reaching her on 07402452452.

News, South West

Devon builders merchants support national campaign to help Ukrainian citizens

Devon builders merchants supports national campaign to help Ukrainian citizens

RGB Building Supplies is supporting the Builders Merchants Federation’s (BMF) national appeal to help the people of Ukraine by collecting essential items.

RGB’s branches have created donation areas where its staff, customers and those in the local area can drop-off items such as thermal clothing, bedding, sleeping bags, torches, first aid kits, toiletries, baby items, household cleaning items and non-perishable food.

All the donated items will be passed to the charity Feed the Hungry who will distribute them to those in need.

The donation points will be in RGB’s branches between Monday 4th April and Saturday 30th April.

Paul West, Branch Manager at RGB Exeter, commented:

“The brutal war has caused so many people to flee their homes leaving them with nothing, so builders merchants from across the country have joined together to support the BMF’s appeal and help Ukrainian citizens during this humanitarian crisis. At the outset we want to thank the kind-hearted people in our community for their donations.”

A full list of the items that can be donated is available as part of the appeal can be found on RGB Building Supplies’ website – https://www.rgbltd.co.uk/ – or in the branches.

 

Logistics, News

How has the situation in Ukraine affecting the trucking industry?

As Russia began their invasion of the Ukraine in February, the world looked on in horror. No-one can have escaped the tragedy that has unfolded on the daily news, and these actions have been widely condemned. Whilst the human cost of the war is evident, the impact has been felt across numerous industries in ways that you might not expect.

The trucking industry is one which has been hit hard by the war, whilst still recovering from Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and a drastic shortage of drivers. Here, FleetEx, global leaders in the trucking industry, take a look at what the impact on the HGV industry has been.

HGV drivers

The HGV industry has been reeling from a loss of drivers, with an estimated shortage of tens of thousands of men and women. This has been exacerbated by the fact that a number of Ukrainian HGV drivers who have been working in the UK and Europe have now returned home to help fight for their country, have been drafted into the Ukrainian military or want to be with their families. It is not yet clear how many drivers have been affected, but with between 30% and 40% of HGV drivers in Europe coming from Ukraine, it is likely to be significant. In the UK, we have far fewer Ukrainian drivers, so the affect has not been as great. However, with driver numbers taking a hit in the rest of the EU, it is only a matter of time before the knock-on effects are felt here.

This is an understandable change, and many haulage companies have shown their support for these drivers by parking up their lorries and giving them safe haven until they are able to return.

Supply chains

Ukraine and Russia are major global suppliers of metals, food and energy, and with both now in the midst of war and Russia suffering from sanctions, these supply lines are drying up. This not only means less goods to ship, but also the parts to build and repair trucks will be in short supply.

With fewer raw materials and a surge in oil and gas prices, industrial production and manufacture is already starting to slow down in some areas. This is likely to make supply chain issues even worse, and the haulage industry is set to bear the brunt of this.

The combination of increased costs and sanctions are likely to hit a number of different industries, including aerospace, the automotive industry and electronics as materials such as titanium, nickel, cobalt and lithium start to be harder to find whilst demand shows no signs of slowing down.

With sanctions in place and a war to navigate, many haulage companies will find that traditional routes in Europe will have changed. Those who rely on routes to and from Ukraine and Russia will feel the blow first as they start to look for new business.

Fuel costs

We have all seen the prices at the fuel pumps rise dramatically since the war began, and this is set to hit the haulage industry hardest. A massive increase in fuel costs will hamper already tight margins, putting companies under even greater pressure to make ends meet. Inflation has also been driven to the highest level in three decades as a result of soaring energy costs and supply chain disruption, which is likely to squeeze costs even further.

Sadly, this terrible war seems far from over, and it is likely that the costs of it will be far reaching for some time to come. After an already tumultuous couple of years, the HGV industry is set for yet another hard time that shows no signs of easing yet.