Aid sent by ambulance to Ukraine front line

An ambulance filled with medical supplies is being sent to support frontline medics in Ukraine.

The vehicle departed from Northampton on Sunday and is travelling 1,650 miles (2,655km) to Kyiv, where it will be handed to charity Ukraine-Mother before being passed to military paramedics in Sumy.

The ambulance has been funded through donations of almost £8,000 to Caritas, the charity arm of the Catholic Diocese of Northampton, while a further £3,500 was contributed by Tove Benefice church in Towcester.

Steve Challen, from Tove Benefice, said: "These items will help paramedics save lives and support medical stabilisation facilities which treat the injured before they are transferred to hospitals."

A man in a black puffer jacket and black cap raises his arm towards lots of cardboard boxes stacked up in an ambulance. — The ambulance is delivering defibrillators, humanitarian aid and battery packs to Ukraine [Diocese of Northampton]

The ambulance has around 950kg of medical equipment on board, including defibrillators, humanitarian aid and battery packs.

Contributions also came from Brackley School and Brackley Round Table, which together donated 200kg of supplies.

The delivery follows one of Ukraine's coldest winters in more than a decade, with temperatures dropping below -20C (-4F), and comes four years after Russia's full-scale invasion.

Many hospitals and essential medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed.

Two volunteers from the Tove Benefice will drive the ambulance across Europe before returning via Poland to England.

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