Ukraine war: Cumbrian man 'humbled' by messages from front line

Steve Hodgson has made a number of trips from Tebay to Ukraine

An air worker who moved to Ukraine has told of how front-line soldiers sent him video messages of thanks for the parcels they received.

Steve Hodgson, from Tebay, Cumbria, left the UK to join his fiancée Natasha and work for a charity in Ukraine.

He sent parcels to soldiers fighting in Bakhmut and said he received "the most unbelievably amazing response."

"These guys are doing the fighting and dying, and I'm just a delivery driver who goes nowhere near," he said.

Mr Hodgson has spent the last year delivering aid from the UK, including medical supplies for hospitals and nurseries.

Ukrainian servicemen fire a D-20 howitzer towards Russian troops at a position near the front line town of Bakhmut

He has since sold-up, quit his job as a tree surgeon and joined his fiancée in Odessa, in the south of the country.

Mr Hodgson, who has now travelled to Uzhhorod in Western Ukraine, has also recorded an audio diary for BBC Radio Cumbria.

The 52-year-old described the messages from the soldiers as "very emotional and humbling to watch".

Steve Hodgson and his fiancée Natasha

"[It was] short, nothing fancy, just a simple video from these guys, being bombed by Russia, as they speak to me, saying thank you for the boots, thank you for the clothes, thank you for the medicines.

"It's incredibly emotional and incredibly hard to sometimes process.

"I will keep helping where I can and do everything I can - these guys are doing the fighting and dying. That makes every single little problem I encounter irrelevant."