'I can't believe the war is still going on'

A man who has spent three years helping Ukrainian people cross the border into Poland has said he "can't believe" the war is still happening after three years.

Andy Stewart, from Fleet, Hampshire, used to live in Ukraine and returned back there just days after Russia first invaded to help.

He said he had spent the last thee years helping in any way he could, but he could not "see the point" of the war.

"It's Putin's personal ambition," he said. "I can't believe that it's still going on."

Mr Stewart said he first fell in love with Ukraine when he visited it more than a decade ago.

"It felt like home," he said.

"I've been in many countries in the world and the minute I landed in Kyiv... I just loved it."

He said that when Russia first invaded, he had friends that were hiding in their basement for several days, unable to buy train tickets to get out without internet.

Once phone signal came back, he bought them tickets and then rented an apartment in Lviv, travelled there, and hosting "a constant flow" of people for six weeks.

"Anything I can do to help, I will do," he said.

Philippe Lefevre, Associate Director at the Centre for Britain and Europe, was also motivated to help when war broke out.

He drove stocks of aid from Reading to Ukraine, and hopes to do it again later in the year.

"It took quite a bit of planning [but] it was something that was very important to me," he said.

He said it was a "long" journey and crossing the border was a challenge, but once there, it was "like any other road".

"[It's] a beautiful country with beautiful landscapes and cities and people," he said.

"It wasn't all just some bombed out wasteland, it is an amazing country with people, places to see... I was really grateful to have those experiences as well as the experience of giving aid."

He said his friends and family were scared but proud when he said what he was going to do.

"My friends and family who are scared, that fear that they felt, very real fear, is the fear that every Ukrainian has felt every single day for three plus years," he said.

"To be able to bring a little bit of that genuine understanding of what's going on in Ukrainians' hearts and minds... was important to me."

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