A broad smile spreads across the face of 11-year-old Demid as he unwraps a Harry Potter Lego set.
The Ukrainian schoolboy has seen unimaginable horrors but now he is experiencing a little Christmas magic, thanks to filmmaker Shahida Tulaganova and security specialist Steve Holland.
The duo met Demid earlier this year for Shahida’s ITV documentary, Children of Ukraine.
Demid’s neighbourhood in Mariupol was destroyed and he is now with his family is in Lviv.
He said: “I wouldn’t wish anyone to go through what we did.”
Shahida, 47, has been covering life in Ukraine since 2014, when Russian hostilities began.
When people got in touch asking they could help after seeing her film, she set up a crowdfunding campaign with Steve, from Hartford, Cheshire, to return with Christmas presents.
Shahida said: “The relationships with people I film never finish when the film is done.”
Steve and Birmingham-based colleague Richard Deakin set off from Manchester last Sunday in a donated van and truck.
They also took warm clothes and power generators, all donated or bought with £7,500 given through crowdfunding.
They reached the Polish-Ukrainian border on Wednesday, where they were met by Shahida.
Stream Children of Ukraine via ITVX. To donate, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shokhida-ruseckas
