Front-line humanitarian aid worker from Northern Ireland describes horrors of Ukraine war

Craig Patterson, a 30-year-old from Co Londonderry with medical training and experience in emergency situations, has been working with the charitable 'Global Augmentation Group' for several weeks to help rescue the elderly and infirm from battle zones.

Speaking to the News Letter via a secure messaging service, Mr Patterson described how the people in the war-torn country have been forced to survive by "burning the rubble around them in their stoves and eating the aid packages we deliver".

He also described his horror upon discovering the body of a local in the Donetsk region who had just days previously helped co-ordinate the delivery of goods from an aid convoy.

"We were evacuating around Zarichne, Donetsk, and whilst waiting under cover for the rest of our convoy a local came out and offered us tea and food," he said.

"She then took in a lot of aid we were carrying and distributed it amongst the locals.

"We came back two days ago to organise a regular aid drop off with her for the residents and found her house destroyed. A shell landed in her yard and I found her lifeless body next to the crater. Her dog was terrified running around the ruins.

"When we found her I ran to get my medic bag but she was already gone. The soldiers we flagged down said they drove past two hours previously and the house was fine. So within two hours of them seeing her and us arriving, her house had been shelled and she'd been murdered.

"We let the army know she was there and had to leave because we had evacuees on board and there was a lot of incoming artillery."

He continued: "We came back today and the dog came running out to me.

"The neighbours had buried her in the crater of the shell that killed her.

"Her name was Olena, she was 50 years old.

"I have named the dog Olena and will be making efforts to bring her home with me."

He added: "Today I seen a destroyed Russian convoy in Tors'ke, we were warned not to go in because the Russians had been pushing into it.

"All I seen were dead Russian soldiers in pieces around us and very tired looking ukrainian soldiers.

"Also these villages have been very badly damaged in the fighting.

"They're around Lyman and the whole area was only liberated a couple of weeks ago. Very few houses intact. No power, water, food, medical supplies... anything. These people are living by burning the rubble around them in their stoves and eating the aid packages we deliver."

Mr Patterson, whose charitable efforts in the past year have also included raising nearly £14,000 for various mental health, suicide awareness, cancer research and search-and-rescue charities following the loss of a friend who died by suicide, travelled the 3,000 mile journey to Ukraine in a converted mini-bus loaded with clothing and other items kindly donated by the local community.

His humanitarian aid work in Ukraine is largely self-funded, but the public can donate online via https://www.gofundme.com/f/ftmaya-humanitarian-aid-to-ukraine.