Hero Edinburgh carer 'bombed and shot at' in Ukraine as he helps rescue families escaping war

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots council worker has come under fire while in Ukraine helping to rescue civilians. Grzegorz Rybak, 45, travelled to to the war-torn country at the start of December after arranging leave with Edinburgh council.

Using a van he fundraised to buy in Edinburgh, the care support worker has been helping to deliver aid in Kramatorsk and also rescuing any residents looking to escape.

He says the Ukranian troops and the remaining residents in Kramatorsk are under constant barrage and have little food, reports Edinburgh Live.He said: "I am not safe, they keep shooting and bombarding.

They were shooting at us. Mercenaries shell residential buildings all the time."It took Grzegorz three plane journeys and several train connections before he arrived in Ukraine but once there he hooked up with Andrew Bagshaw, a scientist from New Zealand who's been co-ordinating humanitarian efforts in Ukraine since May.Andrew said there are no Red Cross or UN relief agencies operating in Donbass, the greater region in which Donetsk lies, so he and Grzegorz and a handful of others are providing the only aid to civilians.Andrew said: "Locals have repaired our vehicle for free."Sometimes a family will agree to get out, but the grandmother, perhaps, refuses to budge, so the family have to decide whether to leave her."Grzegorz is optimistic about Ukraine's chances of victory but Andrew expects the conflict to last for osme time yet.He said: "Andrew doesn't speak Russian but I do!" says Grzegorz, who learned the language at primary school in Poland, and still listens to Russian bands.