The situation in Ukraine is "a lot worse than originally thought" according to a British businessman who travelled to the country with medical supplies.
Richard Dass said that the refugee crisis caused by the war is far worse than he expected, with those fleeing for their lives terrified Russia is turning its attention to western Ukraine.
The 55-year-old said medics at the hospital he visited on Saturday morning cheered him when he brought in boxes of supplies.
He had packed his 25-year-old Mazda Bongo motorhome to the brim earlier this week in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire before he set off.
But now he has said that air raid sirens are being heard for the first time in the town he’s staying in, south of Lviv.
The area has become a hub for thousands of refugees fleeing east, many of whom are arriving with serious injuries.
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Mr Dass said he was shocked by what he found in western Ukraine after he crossed the border from Slovakia on Friday.
He said: "The refugee situation is a lot worse than I had thought.
"They're sleeping on the concrete floor of the train stations and bus shelters on the way and all sorts of things.
"In the train station, it's like seeing hundreds and hundreds of homeless people not knowing what to do next.
"The ones here have not got anything to sleep on. They've just got a day pack and a change of clothes.
"They don't want clothes, though. They want carry mats and sleeping bags."
Mr Dass said he stayed at a friend's apartment in the town, which he does not want to name, along with a mother and a six-year-old boy who had travelled from the area of the battered city of Kharkiv.
He said the boy was so traumatised after the nine-day journey he just seemed to be in a trance.
"Somebody showed us a picture of their house but it's a pile of rubble, everything's gone," he added.
He said five or six trains a day are arriving in the town from the east, each with a minimum of 250 refugees on board looking for help.
A group of six of his friends have housed 300 to 400 people in the last three weeks.
Mr Dass set off from Huddersfield earlier this week with a plan to take medical supplies to the hospital where his doctor friend works.
Then he intended to return with a van full of refugees to the schoolhouse he is renovating in central Slovakia.
He said: "The hospitals are just full. They were over the moon with all the stuff we brought but we need to get more.
"We got out some drawing-up needles and they were just cheering.”
But now he is turning his attention to source a single piece of equipment that every doctor he spoke to wanted, a vacuum therapy apparatus.
Surgeons use these to pull together the wounds of the severely injured, for example, victims of bomb attacks.
He added: "But these vacuum therapy machines are absolutely vital.
"They're telling me every 20 minutes and they're messaging me all the time.
"Every doctor says the same thing."
Mr Dass said the area where he is staying had its first air raid warning on Saturday morning since the Russian invasion began.
He said: "We've not seen any planes yet - but we're told the planes are flying west.
"We were told there were two explosions near to the hospital where we went this morning but we haven't had that confirmed.
"Things are moving west and the fear is building here."
Mr Dass gave up his job in sales and marketing 20 years ago to focus on worldwide travel which has taken to him to almost 100 countries.
He now runs his own business organising bespoke tours of the Himalayas and the Andes.
Details of his appeal for Ukraine are here .
