Funds still needed to send aid to Ukraine

PLYMOUTH CAMPAIGNER FEARS CONFLICT IS BEING OVERLOOKED

-  ANDY PHILLIPS

TWO men who delivered aid to Ukraine as part of their latest aid mission have warned that the world has started to forget about the stricken country, despite daily bombing by Russia.

Andreas Evangelou and Maksym Litvinov recently returned from their latest expedition from Plymouth to Ukraine, delivering medicines and walking aids to hospitals and sleeping bags for front-line troops.

They also delivered a caravan adorned with the badge of Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, which was being taken to the front line and dug in as a shelter for Ukrainian soldiers.

It was a ninth trip for Mr Evangelou since Russia’s invasion, now more than two years ago, while Mr Litvinov saw his home and business in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, destroyed. He is now living and working in Plymouth, where he is employed by Plymouth Citybus.

Mr Evangelou said seeing amputee servicemen and women in military hospitals was a disturbing sight, and he warned that the flow of help to Ukraine has almost dried up.

“It was very emotional, because nobody else is sending any support,” he said. “Everyone seems to have forgotten about Ukraine. It just seems like the world has forgotten about Ukraine even though they are in the middle of a full-scale war, more than they were two years ago.

“They are bombing every day – you can hear it, you can feel it – and what really disturbed me was being in the military hospital and seeing so many men and women with legs and arms missing. A bullet will take your arm off, shrapnel will take your leg off, and it really hit home this time.