Ukrainians speak of gratitude for life-saving medical supplies from Kent

Marina Yankiv said diabetics in Ukraine were "fighting two wars" due to their need for insulin

Ukrainians have spoken of their gratitude for life-saving medicine and equipment sent from Britain to the war-torn country.

Lviv medical centre volunteer Anna Vorobiova said: "It helps us to stay and continue to do what we do, knowing we have this great support."

United With Ukraine, led by Charlie Cawsey, 25, from Kent, has delivered supplies to more than 110 hospitals.

He said the organisation was working as fast as it could to meet demand.

Speaking to BBC South East, he said that within 48 hours of launching an appeal they had "hundreds of thousands of supplies sent in".

"That was very much a point of no return. We have tried to scale as fast as we can."

'It warms my heart'

Marina Yankiv, a 27-year-old phamarcist in Odesa, has been treating patients, many of them children, in the city's underground bomb shelters.

The largest delivery of diabetes supplies sent to Ms Yankiv is from United with Ukraine.

A diabetic herself, she said: "We have two wars - to survive in this war and to survive with type one diabetes.

"We are dependent on insulin. If we don't have this medicine we die - one, two, three days, we die."

Charlie Cawsey is co-ordinating an effort to get urgent medical supplies to Ukraine

Mr Cawsey only set up the appeal a month ago, but has since been approached by medical professionals across Ukraine.

That includes Dr Elizaveta Zagorodnyaya from Dnipro, who told the BBC: "We have a problem with medicines in our hospitals. We need help."

United with Ukraine said that by 1 April it had delivered more than £600,000 of medical aid directly to 110 hospitals in Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, and Ternopil.

Meanwhile, Ms Vorobiova has been working alongside United with Ukraine to target the aid.

She said: "It helps us to stay here to continue to do what we do, knowing that we have this great support and back up. It warms my heart."