'Amazing' response to Ukrainian medical appeal

Tanya Kyiko (left) said she was "so excited" at how many donations she received

A Ukrainian refugee has said she is grateful for an "amazing" response to her appeal for medical equipment for wounded soldiers in her homeland.

Tanya Kyiko, who now lives in Bromsgrove, has received enough donations to send three consignments back to her home city of Kharkiv, close to the border with Russia, in a little more than a month.

She said: "I don't have enough words to express all my feelings. I'm so excited to get such an amount of help."

The 65-year-old retired school teacher said she was widening her appeal to ask for a range of medicines, dressings and equipment.

Ms Kyiko lives with a host family in the UK and has been supported by Bromsgrove and Redditch Welcome Refugees.

She said one donor, Adam Dobrzynski, drove from Wrexham with a boot full of crutches.

He told her he had one set of his own, following a knee operation, but spread the word and was surprised by the response.

Ms Kyiko said she was motivated to help because her city was "bombed every day and every night without stopping".

"New people are being wounded every day," she added.