Charity aid bus travels to Ukraine for evacuations

A convoy of vehicles filled with humanitarian aid has set off from Devon to Ukraine.

One of the vehicles from Bob the Bus, a Totnes-based charity providing free services through the town, will remain in Ukraine to help with evacuations.

Richard Stout, who is driving the yellow bus, said he was leading the convoy that set off on Wednesday morning from Stoke Gabriel. He admitted he felt nervous because last time the bus tried to take make the journey it broke down.

He will drive the vehicle to Poland where he will be met by Adam Stewart, from Ukranian Action Team Devon, who will then drive it to Kharkiv in Ukraine.

Stout, who is making the trip to Ukraine for the ninth time with the charity, said: "I'm really pleased our bus is going to support this cause and I can be part of that."

He said the vehicles were loaded with supplies, including medical aid, power banks and anti-drone netting donated by Brixham fishing crews.

The vehicles would also be used to help evacuate villagers who were living in the war zones, he continued.

"These incredibly brave people go in and rescue elderly and disabled people from those regions," he said.

"Everybody you meet in Ukraine has lost someone or knows somebody that's been lost.

"I happened to be in the square for Defender Day [a public holiday honoring veterans and fallen members of the Ukrainian armed forces] - there were mothers, wives and children all holding up flags of their fallen loved ones.

"It was so heartbreaking to see."

Including the latest convoy, he said Ukranian Action Team Devon had donated 14 vehicles.

Those in the latest convoy include an ambulance and a 4x4 which would be used off-road to help civilians and soldiers in the more remote locations.

Stout added: "Work will start again for another convoy at the end of October."

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