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An Edinburgh charity has said their vehicles were ‘targeted by Russian drones’ as they delivered life-saving supplies to Ukraine.
Oleg Dmitriev, who has lived in Scotland for the past 15 years and was born in Ukraine, launched Sunflower Scotland back in 2022. This came after Russia’s invasion, as he looked to help his country during the war, reports the Daily Record.
The 45-year-old said bombs and missiles are causing widespread destruction. Oleg said: “I have seen the destruction left by these killer drones. A few ambulances were blown up while we were in Kherson this year.
“They can use them to hit places over 30 miles from the front-line. What the Russians are doing now is targeting ambulances deep into civilian territory.
“The second greatest target after ambulances is our vehicles delivering aid. Now when we are out in the field, we know if we get hit we will never come home.
“There was just a shell of the vehicle left. No one could survive that. Things have changed since the start of the war. The technology of weapons has changed, Iranian drones are cheaper so now they fire 300 a day.”
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Oleg has taken part in missions across the country, encountering ‘heartbreaking’ devastation in the major city of Kharkiv, and delivered aid to thousands in other towns and villages. Earlier this week Oleg was in the northeastern city when an attack from Russia killed 10 people, including a toddler.
He said: “When we arrived in Kharkiv, the Russians killed ten people including a family with a toddler and his 16-year-old brother. A Russian ballistic missile hit Sumy University after midnight on August 18.
“After that, the city was attacked by four Shahed drones, each carrying 90kg of explosives, we arrived that day and were met with destruction. Immediately after delivering to a hospital there, the air raid alarm went off and we had to run inside to take cover.”
Oleg spoke as high-level peace talks took place earlier this week in Washington in a bid to end the bloody conflict. Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, returned to the White House for talks on a peace deal for the first time since his explosive row with Donald Trump in February.
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This time Zelensky was backed by European allies including UK prime minister Keir Starmer, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Friedrich Merz. Trump backed away from calling for a short-term ceasefire deal before negotiations to end the war took place but German chancellor Merz said further meetings were unlikely to take place without a ceasefire.
There is still no clear timeline or guarantee that the war will end, or that Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin will agree to a face-to-face meeting. But Oleg believes the conflict will not end “until Russia is stopped”, he added that attacks on civilians had become more ruthless and brutal since international peace talks began.
He said he would continue to risk his life until there is peace across all of Ukraine. Oleg added: “They had peace talks on Monday while we were in Ukraine. How can we believe there could be an end to this war when Russia is wiping out citizens with the cruelest methods during these peace talks.
“I can see the loss in the eyes of doctors. My friends have been injured and some have died. For this reason I will keep on risking my life to deliver medical supplies.”
“The highest priority is to save lives. There is nothing more important.”
