Sunny Days in Kramatorsk (part 2) | Ukraine: The Latest | Podcast

Sunny Days in Kramatorsk (part 2) | Ukraine: The Latest | Podcast

Welcome back to the second part of sunny days in Kar TSK a special episode of Ukraine the latest I’m David nolles in June I traveled across Europe from London England to katos in eastern Ukraine with a group of British volunteers delivering Aid and vehicles to the Ukrainian armed forces in the

Last episode we drove from London through France Belgium Germany and Poland to the Western Ukrainian city of LV after a thankfully peaceful night in Lviv we were on the road bright and early and after many long hours driving arrived in Kei we had left Lviv in a

Rainstorm that it must be said dampened our spirits but after putting hundreds of miles behind us driving east summer returned it grew warmer and the skies were blue on social media we could see that Kiev was under attack from Russian missiles and drones just as African

Leaders paid a visit to the City Dr we drove off Dr after many hours our cars crested a hill and the city lay beneath a little more than a year ago I’d approached Kev in darkness driving past the ghosts of bombed apartment buildings now in high summer the city glittered

Below us first things first we drove the cars to a location in the city to drop off some of the supplies and work out exactly who was going where amid the scrum of British and Ukrainian volunteers taking materials from the vehicles into an apartment in a

Leafy Street of central keev I caught up with one of the ukrainians helping the brother of one of our translators what do you make of what’s Happening Now what do you think of these volunteers I I really appreciate this because uh I guess uh for now it’s

Really needy in our country you know uh today’s morning we have uh uh Russia attacked the K once more and and uh when when I wake up from bombs and then I go here and the these guys uh everyone these volunteers uh arrived these cars these five cars for us it’s

Like God blessing I know I don’t know do you know much about where they’re going what they’re going to do uh yeah they will go to Zaria to our uh military for uh I don’t know exactly what kind uh they will do there these cars uh but I

Think uh they really need them for uh getting from uh point a to be and uh doing this fast because uh I know uh especially guys there that have troubles with um speed to we we can’t we can uh get uh in some points really quickly but

We need this right now because uh everybody talking about the counter counter attack on the Russia if you could give one message to people listening around the world in the US the UK Australia everywhere really what what would you want them to know what would

You say I hope that uh this is the last war in uh Our Lives because uh it’s it’s really scary and I don’t know uh exactly the point of this war because nobody know I speak I lived in Zaria for my 18 years and I speak Russian every day my

Friends speak Russian my parents speak Russian I’m speaking Russian and uh that was a shock for me that the Russia actually attacked us so why I don’t know why they they uh talking that we are nazist here that we are hating the Russians that we attack

The Russians but uh that’s not true to be honest that’s that’s not true I’m listening to Russian music I talk to Russian all my life and now they attacked me for being uh a part of the Russia it’s ridiculous for me so I hope that’s not will happen anymore

Anywhere all too soon it was time to say goodbye the day was getting late and we needed to be up early for the long drive to harke I accompanied the volunteers as we crossed the bridge To the Left Bank soon we left the main roads and found ourselves in a Dusty industrial

Warehouse where we were going to leave the vehicles overnight there’s a group of volunteers here who basically paint them they camouflage them they’re working through the night so we’ve brought Vehicles here they’re going to spend the entire night decorating them camouflaging them um can you just explain to us what you’re doing

In this Warehouse here so since the War Began this is Anna one of the ukrainians accompanying us on the trip you’ll be hearing a lot more from her through this episode they made already 200 Vehicles which they paint buy and then donate to the Ukrainian Army eight of these vehicles they

Managed to buy themselves the others were donated and then all of them are painted for free in this garage what’s his reaction to seeing British people who’ve driven a thousand miles you’re not the first there are lots of British people coming here for the same reason there are lots of people who

Become tired and tired but we need to stay strong basically and to keep going and we need help we said goodbye to the cars and headed back into the city to sleep the next morning morning I was eager to see the transformation from rustic English farm vehicles to Frontline vehicles of

War so we’re here back in the industrial yard where the volunteers trucks have been painted camouflaged there’s a huge smell of paint and fumes in the air one of the volunteers has just told me to do this interview quickly because otherwise we’ll become overcome with the with the

Toxic smell of the fumes they’ve all been painted a dark sort of Cary greenish color with a black pattern over the top it’s quite something I actually didn’t recognize which car was our until being pointed to the right one can you talk us through the different number plates being put on the

Vehicles so number plates in the back are default British car plates which are ones they had and the one in front has says atom which I I would imagine it’s a name of the of the garage in here or maybe a call sign of one of the people

That works in here but anyway they just fit the those on the cars that they do they’ve done many many many cars by this point and they’re known in the checkpoints that we’re going to be going through so the soldiers will see the front of the cars they’ll see at and

They’ll go okay we know what that is and the number plate at the back is just sort of for show to have a number plate yeah so that because it’s I think it’s just going to make it a bit worse if you drive without any you know actual plate

At all then I turn to Alex one of the British volunteers what do you make of what you’re seeing uh just the resourcefulness of the Ukraine Ian people is absolutely phenomenal I’m flabbergast the guys here they’re redey they’ve been literally up all night and they’ve done the most amazing job of

Camouflaging our vehicles one of them was bright red and now you just would not recognize it do you know where you’re heading now off to zapara what what’s installed for us down there not really sure just to explain our Convoy was now being divided half of the group were

Heading down to zafaria the rest of us were going East are you nervous or apprehensive at all about the next stage of this trip I I’m not because I trust the people we’re with and I’m sure they wouldn’t put us in danger if if there was a possibility

Of that so no I’m I’m I’m absolutely relaxed about it I’m actually excited to see um the the guys who are going to give the drones and all the kit to plus the amazingly camouflaged Vehicles if we don’t meet again if you’re heading down to zhia and I’m heading off to katos can

I ask you what are your final thoughts this has been an amazing trip and I definitely want to do it again because the cause is far greater than I’d appreciated for as far as I understand the next few days uh we’re heading to hard ke tonight

Uh and then down to Kos it’s a very very long way katos is 9 hours roughly from ke so one night in harke awaits down to Kos give the vehicles over and then back to C The Columns merged into the sunlight out of the garage and it’s quite an

Impressive sight four cars camouflaged filled with Medical Aid it’s a really impressive site and now we move on the road to hke I got the chance to speak to Sarah Hugh’s wife one two one two one two we’re currently leaving h on our way to CR she’s been organizing

The a trips with Hugh since the very beginning as we drove down the road towards the east the traffic started to thin out there were more military vehicles we were getting a lot closer now to land the Russian army had taken in the initial assault in February

2022 can you describe a little bit the atmosphere the last time you were here uh well we came in September when the Russians were really up close uh to harv and uh but the ukrainians buing to their sort of push back and so in fact we

Handed over two pickups to soldiers in a sort of car park and our pickups were used that night and the night after in the um recovery of lme and getting that back into Ukrainian hands but it really felt like being in the wild west we went

Off to a bar with the soldiers we had handed over to and it does felt like everybody there apart from us was soldiers all their sort of Wags we did stay the night there while we were there we did hear the air alarm go off we heard a couple of booms in the

Background and the soldiers we with just sort of quietly said our SE 300s because we don’t feel the blast from them and they must be more than three miles away um and we caught the night sleeper back to Kei and I think that night the after

We left the railway yard was hit by a missile just after we gone so we had an interesting time but very very safe time it was all fine and everyone was cheerful and all went really well they pushed back and made huge ground now it feels much more like

A happy town you have no particular there are lots of camouflage cars here but not but mainly they’re just normal cars everyone’s in their summer clothes out in the cafes sunny it’s there is some War missile damage it’s quite visible around the place a lot of it um but the

Atmosphere is happy and sunny and cheerful do you ever feel nervous or scared on on these trips how many have you made um I’ve made uh three trips I haven’t actually ever felt personally concerned but I think we probably bring with us good luck cuz whenever we come

We seem to miss any big bangs of and wops but obviously we do have to be careful if you could sum up why why you come on these trips and why you’re doing this what would you say we’ve been to Ukraine uh a few years before The

Invasion and we would just say shocked when Russia really invaded and we had friends in Ukraine and you realize really it was just such a extraordinary thing for Russia to do um and we just found ourselves having these contacts in Ukraine made it possible for

Us to work out a way of getting stuff that they really needed um and getting it direct to them when and where they needed it more or less and that just felt gosh if we can do that then that’s what we should be doing what’s it been

Like uh doing these trips with with your with your husband with your partner I think it’s really good actually I feel it’s a great compliment actually that he wants me to come it gives us lots of shared experience to talk about afterwards and um right now

Apart from um our Ukrainian um who are really making it all possible and we are several Ukrainian women with us who are amazing um I’m the only woman coming and I’m kind of sort of conscious that some of the other men who are in the Convoy quietly saying don’t tell my wife it’s

All right I quite like coming out and having a boy outing we checked in at a small hotel in central hke the owner promptly offered the group a short walking tour walking through eager to see more of the city I tank a little Tour by the hotel owner

Actually and there’s a McDonald’s fairly close by which has been bombed recently and he said that 3 days ago a missile landed just 100 yards down the street it’s showing us that now just above the skyline there is a really beautiful church with golden onion domes at the

Top and that’s where I think we’re heading first time in the east of Ukraine lots of shpil here ah we’re just outside some law offices and there’s a some shrapnel markings on the ground what what does it say there’s some there’s some writing underneath the shrapnel blast this these flowers were

Not forgotten will not be forgotten so there’s a little Shel Spas there so the rocket must have come from that side hit the ground and bounced up and gone into the wall and water of the building many of the panels are blasted off from the windows MDF shut these flowers will not be

Forgotten and there’s another one here so this building was quite badly hit and the building on the opposite side of the street also has its windows out hang on I’m being left behind just trying to catch up so it’s quite clear that the center of hke has been quite badly hit

Quite a few times say the last time I saw Shel bles like that was probably in Butcher and they still hadn’t cleared them up so it’s interesting to see it here yeah the evidence here is pretty much everywhere you look there are windows still out there tra all hitting the signs of the

Buildings shops while right think we’ve seen more obvious damage from shelling and from missiles and bombs here than we have anywhere else so far in Ukraine this really is a Frontline City the Russians got extremely close here University building and this is the ESU so we’re right in the center of of H

We’ve got the Opera House the university the sbu building the city Administration is just a couple of yards away this is really what they were targeting yes exactly Central the most Central Street of car called s Street I must admit I rather like har very wide Avenues some really lovely old

Architecture some new ones as well some new Styles as well people zooming around on electric excuses fam’s out enjoying the Sun and just just an enormous amount of damage in the center enormous amount it’s a very beautiful city I rather like it as the light was failing in harke a

Sight I didn’t expect to see I’m standing in front of the Opera House in hke and there’s a man in a giant polar bear costume with a bow tie in the cuddles of the Ukrainian flag in welcome to HQ that night in hardke I was working late in my hotel room labeling

Recordings and trying to note down everything I had seen it was well into the early hours when I finally Switched Off the Light a few seconds later however luckily for har tonight it was just a few minutes until the all clear sounded attention and it was announced by a

Familiar voice the air alert is over May the force be with you for those of you who don’t know yes that is Mark Hamill Luke Skywalker the next day we woke early for our final Journey with the vehicles and supplies we were driving from hardke to katos

It’s a long drive and took us through territory that had been liberated in Ukraine’s studing counter offensive in Autumn 2022 it would be my first encounter with the Unspeakable horror that Modern Warfare brings from the safety of our cars we drove past scenes of unimaginable destruction just crossing over a river

In the region and a whole Bridge has been destroyed whole Bridge collapsed blown up into chunks of concrete and twisted steel and we’ve just driven across the replacement Bridge uh which is really low down next to the river but that’s that’s that would have been a big big explosion

We’ve seen actually on our way through Ukraine usually there are guards around some of the major Bridges presumably to and guard against and ahead of us an entire apartment block which has been cut into by a strike so the masonry is Jagged and you can see sort of the

Inside the GS of the apartment buildings and there’s a gap of about 15 m in the center can’t see a single apartment there where people still might live every single window’s been blown out this is really a Frontline City asum suffered hugely was also the center during the Russian occupation extra extrajudicial murder

Torture I’m just driving through the now and you really see the on the det this is what total W looks like every single building has got some sort of damage so we’ve reached a bit of a pit stop uh near isum heading down to Kors it’s a fascinating place there’s lots of

Cars lots of military vehicles quite a few soldiers hanging about there’s um old ladies were little store selling things like dried fish I turned to Hugh to ask him what he thought oh wonderful I’ve not seen these many fish markets before they’re absolutely spectacular little stalls of loads of fish hanging

Off them presumably out of lakes because we’re quite a long way from the sea and I’m guessing it’s local but um what’s fun about being off the main roads is actually seeing what small towns and Villages really look like the little stores the shops the the

Food what what people using this for are they sort of picking up supplies as they go to the front as a bit of a rest I think I think initially it used to be some kind of uh Village Market but today obviously it’s Market supplying soldiers on the front line

What was that thing you said um in the car about the why the Tomato crop this year last year is going to be so good in Ukraine I said I said that uh lots of Russian blood um covered this field so our Harvest will be very rich this year

It’s what the local locals you used to say the the the last year when you’re traveling through this this country where you see the devastation that the occupation forces have wre how do you react to it what do you think well that’s very funny because uh the first

Time I took this road it was a couple of months ago and we entered on this road and uh from isum to chromator and it’s um full of completely destroyed very damaged little Ukrainian villages and um suddenly I felt very angry actually and

I was so I was I was not even upset or sad but just so so so angry and full of hate that it even scared me do you still feel like that now no I don’t feel that I’m just very upset for people who lost their home here and

I I hope very much that this war will be over very soon for all of us and people can just go back to their lives after passing through isum we travel through Sloans just heading now through the town of Sloans oh is that another the bloody checkpoint no okay heading through the

Town of Sloans on our right was a vast Factory destroyed many more houses destroyed but also quite a lot of the infrastructure interestingly so yeah the factories the workshops have been really really bad hit now we are really quite close to katos we’re heading through another completely destroyed Village so the road

Ahead of us is straight we’re dipping into a valley and then going up the hill every single house here the roofs have been destroyed it looks almost completely abandoned one house over there h t ping place over it there’s a Ukrainian flag flying on the right I I

Cannot see any people here there a sign in English there saying please help build this Village you might be able to hear it we’re just behind a Ukrainian tank maybe we’ll catch it up it’s going down the fast lane straight to where it’s needed so it doesn’t look as if we’ll be able

To see it again you’ll be able to hear the tank which has fallen back again and we’re catching up on it and we’re going to overtake it for a second time this is Ukrainian light tank on our right it’s coming back again the tank has just overtaken us

Again it’s gone straight to a red light maybe it was the shame of being overtaken by by a mut L 200 don’t know it’s receding into the distance underneath the Ukrainian flag so I think that’s the first time for our driver that we’ve overtaken a tank and been over taken

By there’s a Ukrainian flag fluttering against the blue sky and right in front of me is what looks like a destroyed Russian tank it’s rusting driven off the road turret’s gone the tracks are half sunken to the ground on the left all the wheels buckled we’ve just passed on the left

Another destroyed Russian tank turrets still on just been pushed off the road so that’s the second we’ve seen in the space of 5 minutes it does very much feel like we’re getting closer of course this this is the road this is the road that Ukrainian forces would have taken in September and

October in the counter offenseive then to push the Russians back so all the fields around here REM mind and it I must say it feels like it’s getting closer and closer first the OD destroyed building then entire destroyed Villages there’s quite a few road closures but we’ve just tried to get

Through one way been told by the soldier love the car but this is not the way this is not the way have to go around go back go around so we think this journey could be a little slower than we thought yes finally after days upon days of

Traveling after breakdowns air rides and a journey through some of the saddest scenes I have ever witnessed we reached our destination the small Ukrainian town of katos just 50 minutes or so away is the town of currently the scene of fierce fighting katos on the day I

Visited was Karma but still full of soldiers we drove through the Treeline streets to meet the military units so the convoys arrived in katos the Ukrainian Withers is shaking hands with the men from the Army the several women as well looking very very happily at the two trucks that they’ve been

Brought so now the volunteers are taking out the drones taking out some of the material from the car overseen by Ukrainian Soldier arms crossed with an absolutely Splendid tattoo down her face so there’s I think about six seven soldiers hanging about to do this transfer overl by very Stone woman with

A tattoo on her neck and both for her arms everybody else is in fatigues and here we are L here we are I don’t how you feel I feel um as always sort of slightly anticlimactic we sort of arrive here and we can’t inherit these people who who

Have obviously delighted to see us but we can’t communicate properly with them and that is incredibly frustrating that you can’t they can’t express what they feel really other than I suppose in their emotions is that is that an NHS ambulance that looks a bit like an NHS

Ambulance it does it is hang on that’s London London Ambulance Service NHS trust here we are in katos and there’s a an ambulance been sent from London extraordinary Ukrainian soldiers were delighted with the aid and supplies delivered by the volunteers and they had some gifts of their own for the group

What kind of what kind of Rocket a javelin or a this is from wow the 56 briger shaking hands to the volunteers handing over their flag some patches as well and I think they’re going to take some pictures of them holding it up as well everybody smiling it’s quite a

Moment amazing this is magnificent LPG no really what have you been given um part of a an LPG 7 has a souvenir from bakut where we have taken three trucks I think in total do you have an idea where you’ll put it in in your house CH or

Wait and see I have no idea where I will put it in my luggage going through the airport so we will may we maybe have to wait until we can drive back from Eng back to England from Ukraine but we’re worry about that when we come to it are

You are you happy with with all this with all the kit handed over I spoke to the unit Commander she’s very very grateful she’s very moved she’s saying that I have I’m completely shaking and I have no words stop crying do how quickly will all this stuff get to the front line

When does she think it will start being used so she is the commander of the unit and she saying that they are in bahmut and they her guys will get the GU tonight already and they will be able to operate with this go what would you want

To say to the thousands of people who do listen to this around the world um does you have a message for anybody listening and following the war said it’s very it’s very it’s very moving for us that British people don’t forget Ukraine and that the Ukrainian subject is still uh important

For British and she says I’m very happy to meet you and and to know that we have uh friends in Britain J and best of luck that’s of but there weren’t just soldiers present I spoke to Julia a Ukrainian volunteer attached to one of the units while she talked to me she

Clutched three plastic Union Jack flags gifted to her from the British volunteers well ulia thank you so much for um talking to us can you tell us a little bit about your volunteering what are you doing for the Army volunte she started uh one year ago to be volunteer specifically for 93rd

Brigade she’s saying that it’s my it’s like my family the 93rd Brigade they are calling me their little their little mom my day starting at uh 6:00 in the morning she’s saying and I finish at 3 a.m. every day and it’s quite busy busy days she’s saying it’s very important

For me to know uh that uh all of my guys are wellfed uh they have everything they need to fight and I cannot sleep if I know that they need something and I need to bring it to them immediately and I’m buying I’m supplying them with everything from pants and boots to

Drones and ammunition I imagine she must have gone through some quite dark times over the past year and a half how does she get through them she saiding of course as all of us I had my dark moments but they are very to have them is very motivating because I want to

Meet our Victory together with my guys and that’s what motivates me every every day to wake up to get up from my bed and to continue to carry on does she have any plans for after victory yeah she has a dream to open a recovery center for uh former soldiers after psychological

Recovery and and uh physical Recovery Center may I ask what did she do before this she just had a baby congratulations what kind of Ukraine do you want for your child in the future I want I want independent strong UK Ukraine not Russian Ukraine Ukrainian Ukraine completely independent and

Strong country with own language own culture and I want my children to be proud of this country the British volunteers have given you um some British flags three small plastic Flags what are you going to do with them and what does for you what does that Flag

Symbolize she’s saying the first one uh the the one I will for sure keep for myself because I’m very proud that we have that much support from coming from Britain every every single month and every single day and the second I want to my child to bring to school so my

Child and his friends know all of them that this is country Great Britain which is helping Ukraine and they we need to respect this people and they to remind everyone that these are our friends she’s very moved because she say the third flag she wants to uh bring to her

Parents when they will be liberated because they are now uh in occupied territory of the Prisa District in mopal and I want to uh keep this fact till they are liberated from the occupied basically Julia thank you very much J thank you it at the end of the interview there Julia

Turned away with tears in her eyes and our translator is comforting her speaking about her parents in occupied mop our time in katos was almost at an end after sharing a pizza with the soldiers one of them offered as a lift back to the station to catch the key of

Train he said he was happy to speak about his experience in the Army and the war it was a conversation I’ll never forget um if you could just give us agent his name and tell us what videos he was showing uh my name is J uh I am 34 I’m

From Neo and actually I was in real estate before the war so I was not uh in the Army before I used to have this uh opinion that war and Military staff is something which has has no connection with my life my personality is not something I’m interested in and I I was

Not interested at all before the war so I was very very very far away from from uh uh any military activity already When The War uh started I I received a call from the military office asking for me to come and to check the documents etc for you know it was a

Something we were doing all over Ukraine to check how many men um can fight basically and uh so they called him invited him to to pass the the medical commission and he understood that it’s the moment where he needs to take a decision while if if he wants to um

Basically join up or or not and he decided to do it before this War I was quite lost I didn’t know uh what to do with myself I I have my mother and my sisters and my nephews but I have no wife I have no children so uh it the moment arrived

Where I was ask asking asking myself about what was next and then the war happened and my mother and my nephew and my sister uh all of them uh needed to flee to Germany and I stayed here all alone my father my father is still in Neo he does want

My father didn’t join up just because he is quite old he’s almost 70 years old he made the same decision uh to stay because as me he has the same views that we need to fight for our country to be able to continue our lives can I ask um

What experience does he have of of combat so the most frightening experience in Bak was my first experience uh we were in bahmut and uh the fight uh was quite long it was 5 hours and a half and we were just 19 soldiers and they were hundreds and hundreds arriving from nowhere like

Zombies so the fight was in the wood it was awful because in the wood the weather was quite weird and we were not even able to see if we are firing on if it’s not a friendly fire we are actually killing enemies on not our our comrades it was

The the most interesting experience I had in solidar we were much closer to the enemy and I was I was I was even able to see to see actually the enemy in front of me to know that it is the enemy and uh we we had nice F there so basically he’s

He’s saying that he killed lots of Russians and he even used the GRE ades he was able to use grenades um that was the fight where we managed to liquidate the commander the unit commander and uh Russians obviously are getting very angry when we do this

Kind of things uh so they were so nervous that they called they asked for help and lots of Tanks uh arrived and it was a very very very complicated fighting is there one memory over the past year and a half that really stands out for him and for whatever

Reason my friends which were gone and these days you cannot ever ever ever forget because I lost lots of friends the the most awful thing is that I cannot forget while I’m trying every day to forget how they died and that’s the hardest thing because every day I

Have all these pictures again and again rearing In My Memory because Russians are cruel and Barbarian thank you after saying our goodbyes we jumped on a train to Kev and started the long slow process of leaving the country jenier and his friends went back to the front to fight I went home to

London after 10 days my journey was over hi listeners it’s David here it’s now been 6 months since I traveled from London to katos and I’ve waited so long before recording the ending enough time for the adrenaline andc ment of the journey to wear off and the memories to

Sink in for Christmas I’ve come to visit family on the western Scottish island of Isa outside a winter storm is Raging rain is lashing against the windows and the wind is bending the sparse trees from here my trip in June now feels like something of a surreal Dream

From hearing the first aid Sirens interwoven with Christian prayer to bumping along the back streets of katos into viewing Xena about his time fighting in solidar and bakut it’s now just a few days before Christmas and I find myself thinking again of shenya I wonder if he’s still alive what

Further Horrors he may have witnessed how many more of his friends have died my final thought isn’t long I’m less eloquent than Francis and less worldly wise than Dom but I can say that I hope everyone listening hears in these stories the kindness courage and selflessness

As much as they hear of the cruelty destruction and needless suffering I hope people realize that in the face of great evil there’s always hope as long as good people are courageous enough to do the right thing and that’s true of the highest politicians generals dignitaries to the

Most ordinary of us from polish German mechanics to volunteers from around the world who decided their friends needed help and got involved even to you our listeners before we end just a quick message from the volunteers I accompanied who wanted to pass on their thanks for listening and some details

Will also include these in the show notes but they say if you would like to donate time equipment or money or are interested in buying your own vehicle and delivering it to Ukraine you can get in touch at ukraine. Supply proton that’s ukraine. Supply proton .me and finally from me David nolles

Thank you very much for listening goodbye

In June 2023 Ukraine: The Latest presenter and host David Knowles accompanied a group of volunteers delivering aid and vehicles to the Ukrainian armed forces. Over 10 days they drove around 2000 miles from suburban south London to a Ukrainian front line city.

On the journey, David spoke to the volunteers, Ukrainian civilians and of course, Ukrainian soldiers to understand why ordinary people would commit to an extraordinary mission and what it means to the people on the front lines.

In Part 2, David and the volunteers reach Kyiv and then head down to Kharkiv and Kramatorsk.

A message from the volunteers:

‘If you would like to donate time, equipment or money, or are interested in buying your own vehicle and delivering it to Ukraine, you can get in touch at: ukraine.supply@proton.me’

Subscribe to The Telegraph: telegraph.co.uk/ukrainethelatest

Email: ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk