Aid worker marks 500 days in Ukraine

Michael Betoin from Sheffield has been delivering aid to remote villages in Ukraine

A charity worker from Sheffield has said he felt a "calling" to help people affected by the war in Ukraine, as he marked his 500th day in the country.

Michael Betoin, from Ecclesall, first took an aid van to Ukraine in 2022, and returned after realising his "job wasn't done".

Mr Betoin has been living in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv, taking aid south to remote villages near the front line of the conflict with Russia.

The “exhausted” humanitarian aid worker said he would return to Ukraine to help prepare for the winter after a six-week break.

Michael Betoin said he felt a "calling" to help people in Ukraine

Mr Betoin initially travelled to Kyiv, where he worked with war crimes investigators to clear bomb-damaged apartments.

He admitted: "I really just headed off blind, I didn’t know anything about the culture or the country."

He moved on to the city of Kharkiv, 20 miles from the Russian border, working with Ukrainian charity Turbota, which provides aid to people cut off by the war.

He said: "I thought I can do something," adding it felt like "a calling to do it and make a difference".

He helps carry items including baby and medical supplies, personal hygiene goods and winter clothing.

Mr Betoin is marking 500 days in Ukraine - and has vowed to return after a break

Having got "stuck in and getting to know people" he soon felt like he was supposed to be there.

Mr Betoin said he had heard "well over 500 explosions" in Kharkiv and directly witnessed 10.

He said: "In Kharkiv it’s gone eerily quiet. For six months we got battered."

Mr Betoin said it became "normal for us" to hear the sound of shelling in the distance, with Ukrainians left with no choice but to "get on with daily business as usual".

Mr Betoin has been awarded medals for his services to Ukraine

While Mr Betoin said he was "mentally exhausted", he was thinking about the “devastating events of no energy and heating” in the winter.

He described those he was helping as “family”, and said walking away would feel like a "betrayal".

But he insisted he would return to the region after a break.

The volunteer, who was awarded two medals in the country for "services to Ukraine", said he wanted to mark the 500-day milestone by reminding people that the war was still raging.

He said: "We fly the flag for Britain, the United States and all the people of the free world and we send the message that we care and we always will."

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