Ukraine residents 'too exhausted' for sirens
Whitchurch councillor Gregory Ebbs has delivered a donated car to Ukraine, filled with aid supplies.
**Ukraine residents 'too exhausted' for sirens**
A councillor who took aid to Ukraine has said people there are "exhausted" and no longer wake up for air raid sirens because they happen so often.
Gregory Ebbs, a Liberal Democrat councillor for Whitchurch South in Shropshire, travelled to Lviv and Kyiv to deliver a donated car, along with medical supplies, tools and warm clothing.
The former Apprentice contestant said local people told him they no longer go to bomb shelters unless there is a ballistic missile alert.
"There's a certain degree of exhaustion," he told the BBC. "People are surprised - they ask why you're there - they love that fact that volunteers go out there... but they're just exhausted".
After first travelling to the western city of Lviv, Ebbs said the aid was handed over to the humanitarian organisation PTAHA.
He said the city was "mostly untouched" by the war, but the human toll was clearly visible.
"[There were] people with missing legs, missing arms, missing eyes - this is very common… but the city itself has not been impacted," he said.
Ebbs added that on his first night, five explosive drones were reported within five miles of where he was staying, with "sirens and alerts sounded repeatedly through the night".
Ebbs said the impact of the war was visible in Kyiv
He said that once they reached the capital, Kyiv, things "ramped up".
"You don't even need to get into the city before your GPS gets jammed, the internet starts shutting down you've got air raid sirens every 15 minutes, and the destruction around you gets very evident," he said.
"You've got a lot of warehouses, building destroyed… bridges blown up."
In the city, he met medical staff based in Odesa who collected the donated Citroen Xsara.
Ebbs said their previous vehicle had been destroyed, leaving a team of 70 with two cars to transport people.
While there, his taxi driver told him he no longer wakes up when air raid sirens sound because he has become so used to them.
Ebbs said he would "absolutely" go back in the future
Ebbs then made a nine-hour train journey back to Lviv and was evacuated from the train along the way.
"The train stops in the middle of a field and everybody gets off," he said.
"We all helped the elderly and the young walk to the nearest forest line.
"We're informed there's a drone on the way, and if it blows up the train it's important that we stand away from it," he explained.
After returning home, he said he would "absolutely" go back to the country to deliver more aid.
"These vehicles, this aid, it literally saves lives," he said.
"It's so important, and if I can help a little bit, then I'll do what I can.
"The civilian impact is just going to get worse," he added.