A volunteer who has been transporting goods, refugees and medical equipment to and from Ukraine has urged people not to let the war “fade into the background”.

Phil Hodges, 73, is part of a convoy heading to the conflict-torn country while it battles with Vladimir Putin’s Russia.

The Medway-born man, who now lives in Hawkhurst, has been driving for John’s Red Bus charity to help move any helpful items from the UK to eastern Europe.

He has travelled around the country and saw first hand the destruction which has happened as a result of the war.

Retired Mr Hodges said: “We landed in Calais and then drove across France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Poland and then into Ukraine.

“Once there we progressed eastward dropping off people and goods in Lviv, Kyiv, Poltava and Kharkiv.

“We finally fetched up just north of Donetsk where we were met by the military to give them the remaining vehicles and the last of the donations. There were three of us left so we backtracked with three refugees who were coming back to England.

“As you can imagine it was pretty arduous and we have seen a lot of the devastation caused by missile strikes, particularly on non-military indiscriminate targets.

“The people are carrying on with their lives and trying to behave as normal. I think it's the "blitz spirit" where they refuse to be bombed into submission.

“We went back via Kyiv and about five hours earlier they had had a missile attack. Apparently, approximately 30 missiles had been launched but the air defences managed to get all of them except one, which killed a civilian.

“After what I've seen I think that the war has faded into the background.

“These people are still trying to live as well as they can, under the constant fear of bombardment, whilst we sit back here in front of our comfortable TVs and watch it there.”

Mr Hodges has pictured the destruction to buildings across Ukraine on his journey.

He wants to reiterate to people across the world, not just in Kent, that the war is still going on and people need our support.

“These people need all the help they can get because they are out there dying and being made homeless,” he explained. “I'm just happy that I've done something.

“The donations to John's Red Bus have dropped, so please, go online, donate money, goods, vehicles, anything to help in this time of attacks by an evil regime.”

Brian Grove, from Sittingbourne, was in Ukraine over Christmas and the New Year helping deliver aid.

He’s now on his way back to Kherson after the dam explosion earlier this week.

“I've got no way of knowing how many of the people I met in those villages are homeless, or how many are still alive, because of how difficult communications are down there.

"One thing I do know is that there are so many things needed right now, like water pumps, tubing, filtering for water, because it's contaminated.

"People have been forced out of their homes yet again with nothing. They need clothes, basic medicines, things they need to survive.

"Everything you can imagine you would need if you suddenly ended up out of your home. We also need cages to rescue pets, because like the British, Ukrainians are animal lovers and there's lot of animals there people are trying to rescue."