‘We saw smoke in the distance and were told it was from an artillery strike’
Edinburgh-based HGV driver Robert Marshall is transporting a lorry load of aid to Moldova, where thousands of Ukrainians have fled since war broke out.
Mr Marshall is working with charity Teech to distribute the aid where it is most needed in Moldova. Here is his latest diary chapter:
Day six
"We’re staying in Balti – Moldova's second largest city – this is our base.
“Things have gone well over the past few days. My load was emptied at a village called Calarasovca, which is divided from Ukraine by a river – we saw smoke in the distance and a local told us it was from an artillery strike.
“The trailer was off-loaded into a warehouse by the river and there were lots of local people to help us. This warehouse is used as a base for the local area and when food, clothing and other supplies are needed, a van is dispatched to give them what they need. The school in this village is being used currently for Ukrainian families.
"We were taken by the mayor to two Moldovan houses, where Ukrainian refugees had been taken in. We went to Singerei this morning, delivering aid to a refugee camp housing about 90 Ukrainians: it’s a site used during the summer for children’s camps so there are no tents, everything is hard walled. We did hear, though, that at night it gets stoned by Russian speaking Moldovans – we have experienced this too as we had a bit of verbal abuse in a bar from a drunken pro-russian in Balti – so there is a little tension. This is what we’ve been told by people here.
"This is the last day of my trip, and I’ll start the return journey to Scotland tonight.”