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Aid convoy completes 1,300-mile trip to Ukraine

Paul Earnshaw and Alastair Gray are standing in front of the green jeep with their arms folded over. Paul is wearing a black top and black sunglasses. Alastair is wearing a white top and glasses.Thriplow Daffodil Weekend

Dotty McLeod

BBC News, Cambridgeshire

Harriet Heywood

BBC News, Cambridgeshire

Three Cambridgeshire men have travelled 1,300 miles (2,092km) across Europe as part of a convoy to deliver medical aid to Ukraine.

The men, from Thriplow near Cambridge, drove four days in a big green truck named Shrek before catching flights back home.

Paul Earnshaw said the vehicle was dropped off as a donation alongside wheelchairs, crutches, clothing and generators.

He said the trip had been "unforgettable" and it was "wonderful to see how grateful the people of Ukraine are for anyone thinking about them".

The front of the 4x4 has a circle sticker of Shrek - a green ogre - on the front. Above it are the words "humanitarian aid" and a medical sticker.Tom Jackson/BBC

The convoy of 12 trucks covered about 300 to 400 miles a day before arriving in the city of Brody, close to the Polish border.

Mr Earnshaw said he did not see any damage at the location, but noticed the residents there were "very war weary", with the "news of Trump" taking place while he was there.

"It was really emotional to hand the keys to the Ukrainian drivers when they drove off with our vehicles," Mr Earnshaw told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

"There's little things that get to you, like the drivers were all female as most of the men are at the front fighting. It just makes it so real."

Mr Earnshaw added: "They are just so grateful to the British people, because we are showing sort of unflagging support of what they're doing and they just think that is marvellous. The psychological impact is almost as great as the aid itself."

The convoy - a long line of vehicles in single file - travelling over a bridge.Thriplow Daffodil Weekend

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Related topics

Cambridge

Thriplow

Ukraine

Humanitarian aid

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