Russia-Ukraine war – live: Moscow launches hypersonic missile attack as UK pledges to send more drones

Mr Whitehead, the lead organiser and an assistant general counsel and director at Citibank, said: “In the past we’ve taken everything from pots and pans to children’s toys, cuddly toys, nappies, sanitary ware.

“We take a lot of medical equipment, so we have taken PPE, for example, but we’re also taking things like tubes that are disposable, for example, in the context of anaesthesia.

“We take a lot of crutches. They don’t have enough crutches and crutches are often just used once and disposed of in the NHS, and we need to get our hands on as many of those as we can and transport them out.”

The group has received “endless gratitude” for the help it provides to Ukrainians, Mr Whitehead said.

“It’s very, very touching. In fact, it brings tears to your eyes when you meet people,” he said.

“There’s a possibility for small groups like ours, to have a direct impact and actually save lives, which is an incredibly powerful thing to be able to do.”

The group started their work in the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion.

“A lady who lives locally to me, Aliya Aralbayeva, decided that she was going to fundraise, buy an ambulance, fill it with aid, and get it to Ukraine,” Mr Whitehead said.

“She reached out to her local WhatsApp groups and all the rest of it and very quickly raised a large amount of money and a lot of aid and was able to get first ambulance out to Ukraine.”

UK volunteers who have sent almost 50 aid-filled ambulances to Ukraine have said they want to show civilians of the war-torn country “they’re not alone” as they prepare a further convoy amid another harsh winter of war.

Daniel Whitehead, 51, told the PA news agency that the organisation, Medical Life Lines Ukraine, has sent 48 ambulances filled with aid, 21 generators and one all-terrain crane to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

As well as providing essential medical supplies and practical items, the group hands out smaller items like chocolate and sweets to children to “provide a little ray of sunshine in the depths of winter”.

The volunteer-run organisation plans to drive four more ambulances to Ukraine in late January.

“Because it’s so cold, we’re going to be taking out a lot of cold weather gear, and clothes, thick coats, boots, we’re even going to be taking duvets and so on,” Mr Whitehead told PA.

“(We want to show) Ukrainians that they’re not alone and that we care about them and we’re thinking about them.”

The group of Medical Life Lines Ukraine volunteers have raised hundreds of thousands of pounds and liaises with pharmaceutical companies, pharmacies and hospitals across the UK to procure medical equipment and supplies.

More than 40 volunteer drivers have taken on the task of driving across to Ukraine to deliver the ambulances and aid, which are distributed across the country.

The most recent convoy set out in November with five ambulances sent to Avdiivka, Kharkiv, Zhytomyr and Zaporizhzhia.

The EU’s imports of refined oil imports from India grew to record levels in 2023 at the same time as New Delhi’s imports of Russian crude oil more than doubled year on year.

It means consumers in Europe likely received unprecedented volumes of petrol, diesel, kerosene and other oil products that originate from Russia via India last year, in spite of the sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

India has made no secret of its willingness to buy Russian oil in spite of the Ukraine war, maintaining good ties with Moscow while it has also courted closer defence and trade partnerships with Western nations.

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A federal judge ordered Indiana to strike a provision in state law that allows people on humanitarian parole to obtain driver’s licenses but only if they are from Ukraine.

The judge granted a preliminary injunction Thursday to a group Haitian immigrants in Indiana who have sued the state over the recently passed law. The Haitian immigrants say the law is discriminatory and unconstitutional and are seeking to permanently ban the provision.

It was unclear Friday if the state will appeal the judge’s order.

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A Russian court Friday ordered that Sergei Udaltsov, a Russian pro-war activist and critic of President Vladimir Putin, be detained until Feb. 15 when he will stand trial for charges of “justifying terrorism,” Russian state news agency Ria Novosti said.

Udaltsov told Ria Novosti that the charges relate to his posts in support of members of a Marxist group who were arrested for creating a “terrorist community” in the city of Ufa, about 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow.

Ria Novosti said the charges against Udaltsov carry a prison sentence of five to seven years.

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“Yes, we have issued the last drawdown package that we had funding to support. And that’s why it’s critical that Congress move on that national security supplemental request and we get more funding,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told a press briefing.

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The EU’s imports of refined oil imports from India grew to record levels in 2023 at the same time as New Delhi’s imports of Russian crude oil more than doubled year on year.

It means consumers in Europe likely received unprecedented volumes of petrol, diesel, kerosene and other oil products that originate from Russia via India last year, in spite of the sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

India has made no secret of its willingness to buy Russian oil in spite of the Ukraine war, maintaining good ties with Moscow while it has also courted closer defence and trade partnerships with Western nations.

He was found heavily concussed after a nearby artillery strike and suffering PTSD after being left to fend for himself for five months when rescuers finally arrived just days before he starved to death.

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