‘I deliver aid to the brave people of Ukraine – they will fight on despite Trump’s surrender plan’

One moment in particular stands out in Paul Tovey’s latest trip to Ukraine.

The British humanitarian volunteer was among those who paused to show respect as a street in the city of Ternopil came to a standstill for a passing military funeral procession this afternoon.

Even away from the frontline – if it can be called that in the age of drone warfare – the toll of the war is everywhere.

However Paul, who delivers humanitarian aid and four-wheel drive vehicles to the war zone, and his charity contacts in the country say that Ukraine has no choice but to fight on despite the appalling toll of the conflict and Donald Trump’s Russia-aligned peace plan.

He told Metro he has been ‘greeted like a hero’ at the start of his gruelling, two-week trip across Europe to the country.  

The lifesaving nature of his latest consignment shows why; the kit includes wheelchair motors for use in improvised air defense systems to protect civilians in the west from Russian drones and missiles.

Paul’s 3,600-mile road trip began as Trump attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and America’s European allies, claiming the wartime leader’s negotiators ‘love’ the latest plan. 

The proposal involves Kyiv ceding land to Russia and has been called a ‘surrender document’ by critics for being favourable to Russia.  

Speaking to Metro from Ternopil in the west of Ukraine, the first stop on his latest visit, Paul said: ‘The Trump peace plan is in effect a surrender document and the Ukrainians I have met in the limited time I’ve been here feel they have no choice; they have to fight on. 

‘They just hope that European leaders now understand that waiting for America to pay for all the equipment needed to fight on is no longer on the table. They are going to have to tell their populations that money will need to be spent on this so the Russians do not go any further.

‘What sums it up better than words is when every passerby stopped and dropped to a knee for a funeral procession of fallen soldiers that made its way through the street in Ternopil this afternoon.’

‘Ukrainians are holding the line’

Mr Tovey, 60, from Kent, is delivering aid including a van, medical equipment, baby milk and disposable nappies and non-lethal military kit such as camo gear and boots. 

He arrived in Ternopil by road four days ago in a two-vehicle team and will also visit locations in the south of the country and then Kyiv before returning in one of the vans late next week.

‘I love the trips, although it’s difficult in some ways,’ he said.  

‘You’re constantly being shown gratitude and told you’re a hero.

‘Personally, I feel as a father to a 30-year-old son that their young men and women are holding the line so that my son doesn’t have to fight.

‘I feel it’s my duty to help. I’m not a hero or brave but it’s all the Ukrainians can give back so I accept it in good grace.’ 

‘We’re losing our best sons’

The volunteer works with the international Gift of Life charity, which provides medical and humanitarian help across Ukraine. 

Director Dmytro Maksymenko, speaking in a video recorded for Metro, said: ‘No one was ready to face this bloody war.

‘I can remember the day I woke up at four or five am on February 24, 2022.

‘My mum called me, she was screaming, crying, “the war has started and Russians are coming.” 

‘No one could believe such a terrible war could start in the middle of Europe in the 21st Century. After four years of this crazy, bloody war, I see that people are getting tired more and more.

‘We are losing our best sons of Ukraine on the battlefield.

‘Our infrastructure is constantly under attack by Russia, our economy is almost destroyed but we have a mission.

‘I feel that all people of goodwill and Ukraine must unite.’ 

Mr Maksymenko plans to continue doing everything he can for ‘neighbors and our country’, despite the fraught security situation.

‘We cannot sleep, because every night we wake up from the sound of air raid alarms and have to go to the basement to hide from bombing and shelling,’ he said.  

‘We cannot work properly because of power outages and my children cannot study properly at schools because of attacks and problems of electricity.

‘All those experiences are really tiring and psychologically it’s not easy at all. But we are doing as much as we can to help our neighbors and our country to overcome this difficult time.’  

‘We’ve learnt the cost of freedom’

Maria Kunovska, an accountant at the charity, reflected on the price of freedom beside the organisations’ ‘clinic on wheels’.

‘Some people are fighting on the front, some are fighting here in the more remote cities by helping out as they can,’ she said. 

‘It’s something we have to go through.  

‘People used to say we were given our freedom without any struggle, but now we are paying a high price of our freedom, and I think this is why this work becomes more and more valuable for every Ukrainian.

‘Everyone here understands in their hearts what freedom means, it is not a line in an anthem or something like that.’  

In one of his latest comments on the war, Trump said that Zelenskyy ‘needs to get his act together and start accepting things’ in relation to the mooted peace agreement. 

It followed the Ukrainian leader meeting Sir Keir Starmer, the French president and German chancellor at No10 on Monday to discuss the latest US-proposed plans.  

Afterwards, Mr Zelenskyy said he was ‘grateful’ to his counterparts for ‘their willingness to stand with our people and help us on a path toward bringing peace closer.’  

Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@usnewsrank.com

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