FORMER Naval Officer and South East Cornwall humanitarian volunteer David Pond has just returned from his eleventh mission to Ukraine since the Russian invasion.

Working with a trusted Ukrainian network delivering medical equipment, powerbanks, 4X4 vehicles, generators and other aid near the front lines of Kherson, Lviv and Kharkiv, he says the situation for civilians and soldiers remains ‘desperate’.

Reporting on his trip David, of Kingsand, said: “Today I have been in Kharkiv city, just 20 miles from the Russian border, to deliver another consignment of aid requested by my Ukrainian network and generously funded by people in my local community of South East Cornwall, including a number of churches.

“It has been a very difficult day, as we have operated against a background of constant air warnings and at least 15 missile and glide bomb strikes which killed seven people and injured more than 40.

“I last delivered aid here a year ago and I am shocked by the scale of destruction since then and by the brutal renewed offensive against the city and its civilians. I arrived after a 2000-mile drive from my home in Kingsand in a 4x4 vehicle which I then handed over to a group who desperately needed it to get those injured in such attacks to emergency medical centres.

“I also brought medical equipment, radios, thermal blankets and ecoflow powerbanks which will keep vital medical machinery operating during the constant power cuts, and fishing nets donated by former local fisherman Tony Edwards.

“I don’t mind admitting that there were times today when I felt my courage tested, but looking at all of those around me – I realised that this is a terror they face every minute of every day. It is their courage, their resilience, their determination to stand up to Russia that strengthens my own resolve to do all I can to support them.

“We are all shocked when we see images on social media and our TVs of the aftermath of missile strikes and with all that is happening in Gaza and Ukraine there have been plenty such images of late. But nothing quite prepares you for the experience of being there – the total devastation, the fear, the panic, the pain.”

David added: “In offering comfort to a lady today I made the comment that we are all behind Ukraine and that we all love the Ukrainian people. She thanked me but her words struck deep when she replied: “Thank you, but if everyone loved Ukraine as much as they say they do then we would have won by now and have our country back.”

For more details or to donate, visit: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ukraine-first