Ukraine war: Missing Briton Christopher Parry reveals how he dodged bombs while helping evacuate people from Bakhmut
One of the Britons missing in Ukraine revealed in his last interview before he vanished the kind of danger he and his fellow volunteers face on a daily basis.
Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry, who are volunteers helping with civilian evacuation and humanitarian efforts were reported missing by the police in the Donetsk region on Saturday afternoon having been last seen the previous morning leaving Kramatorsk for Soledar.
Speaking just three days before he went missing, Christopher Parry, told how he had to choose between going on foot and being slow, but less visible, or going by car and being fast, but risk being spotted by drones on his way into Bakhmut to provide aid.
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British volunteers missing in Ukraine
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Speaking to journalist Arnaud De Decker he described the decision as a “toss-up” saying: “You can either go on foot, which is what some volunteers do, but that means you’re spending a lot more time there, and I feel more vulnerable because you are just walking around completely naked.
“By car, you are more of a target, but you can fly to your destination in two minutes and be back in two minutes.
“Hopefully you can just do it quick enough so that the drones don’t spot you and then you can just park it in a building and hide.
“But, yeah, a lot of volunteers won’t go any more, but there are people there who want to get out, so I’m willing to go.”
Chris Parry has been helping evacuate civilians in eastern Ukraine
Mr Parry and Mr Bagshaw have been missing since Friday, after they were seen heading to the town of Soledar in Donetsk, widely believed to be the most dangerous part of the war-torn country at the moment.
Footage shot on a GoPro camera by Mr Parry and posted on his social media pages showed him dashing between buildings to locate elderly residents in Bakhmut to help them evacuate.
In one particularly shocking clip, massive explosions can be heard as Mr Parry leaves a building, before dashing back and corralling a crowd of elderly Ukrainians back inside.
Speaking to Sky News, the journalist who last interviewed Mr Parry, de Dekker, revealed how optimistic and happy he seemed, despite the danger he was placing himself in.
Andrew Bagshaw and Mr Parry have been reported missing
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Describing speaking to him on the western side of Bakhmut, Mr De Decker said: “I must say he was very optimistic about everything, very full of life for someone who just came back from the most dangerous part of Ukraine. He was saying ‘well, no one wants to go there, someone needs to do it, so I am willing to go there’.
“I was very amazed and inspired by his work, that’s for sure.”
Discussing the pair’s last know whereabouts, Mr De Decker added: “They were last seen, apparently on Friday, but on Saturday afternoon I received the first call from the police in Bakhmut asking me for some details and my last interactions with them. From what I understand, a lot of people, including military, are out looking for them as we speak.
“Obviously, the situation in Soledar is very dangerous so they need to be careful, but I know there are a huge amount of people actively looking for them as safely as it can be done, since Soledar is the most dangerous place in Ukraine right now, but they are doing their best, that’s for sure.”
Chris Parry has been evacuating Ukrainian civilians from recently liberated villages
Officers in Donetsk have said they are carrying out investigative and operational measures to establish their location.
A small salt-mining city, Soledar has seen fierce fighting as Russian forces carry out assaults – perhaps in the hopes of escalating pressure on nearby Bakhmut.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the families of two British men who have gone missing in Ukraine.”
Specialist search teams, police dogs and divers have been dispatched to find two sisters who vanished in Aberdeen three days ago.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32, were last seen on CCTV in the city’s Market Street at Victoria Bridge at about 2.12am on Tuesday.
The siblings were captured crossing the bridge and turning right onto a footpath next to the River Dee in the direction of Aberdeen Boat Club.
Henrietta Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Eliza Huszti. Pic: Police Scotland
Police Scotland has launched a major search and said it is carrying out “extensive inquires” in an effort to find the women.
Chief Inspector Darren Bruce said: “Local officers, led by specialist search advisors, are being assisted by resources including police dogs and our marine unit.”
Aberdeenshire Drone Services told Sky News it has offered to help in the search and is waiting to hear back from Police Scotland.
CCTV of the sisters. Pic: Police Scotland
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The sisters, from Aberdeen city centre, are described as slim with long brown hair.
Police said the Torry side of Victoria Bridge where the sisters were last seen contains many commercial and industrial units, with searches taking place in the vicinity.
The force urged businesses in and around the South Esplanade and Menzies Road area to review CCTV footage recorded in the early hours of Tuesday in case it captured anything of significance.
Drivers with relevant dashcam footage are also urged to come forward.
CI Bruce added: “We are continuing to speak to people who know Eliza and Henrietta and we urge anyone who has seen them or who has any information regarding their whereabouts to please contact 101.”
Glasgow has been a city crying out for solutions to a devastating drugs epidemic that is ravaging people hooked on deadly narcotics.
We have spent time with vulnerable addicts in recent months and witnessed first-hand the dirty, dangerous street corners and back alleys where they would inject their £10 heroin hit, not knowing – or, in many cases, not caring – whether that would be the moment they die.
“Dying would be better than this life,” one man told me.
It was a grim insight into the daily reality of life in the capital of Europe’s drug death crisis.
Scotland has a stubborn addiction to substances spanning generations. Politicians of all persuasions have failed to properly get a grip of the emergency.
But there is a new concept in town.
From Monday, a taxpayer-funded unit is allowing addicts to bring their own heroin and cocaine and inject it while NHS medical teams supervise.
A dirty needle thrown less than 100 metres from the new injection centre
It may be a UK-first but it is a regular feature in some other major European cities that have claimed high success rates in saving lives.
Glasgow has looked on with envy at these other models.
One supermarket car park less than a hundred metres from this new facility is a perfect illustration of the problem. An area littered with dirty needles and paraphernalia. A minefield where one wrong step risks contracting a nasty disease.
Drugs paraphernalia in a supermarket car park in Glasgow, near the new facility
It is estimated hundreds of users inject heroin in public places in Glasgow every week. HIV has been rife.
The new building, which will be open from 9am until 9pm 365 days a year, includes bays where clean needles are provided as part of a persuasive tactic to lure addicts indoors in a controlled environment.
There is a welcome area where people will check in before being invited into one of eight bays. The room is clinical, covered in mirrors, with a row of small medical bins.
Clean needles are provided to lure addicts to inject in a controlled environment
There are eight bays users can inject in
We were shown the aftercare area where users will relax after their hit in the company of housing and social workers.
The idea is controversial and not cheap – £2.3m has been ring-fenced every year.
The aftercare area
Read more: ‘Dying would be better than my £1,000 a month heroin addiction’
Authorities in the city first floated a ‘safer drug consumption room’ in 2016. It failed to get off the ground as the UK Home Office under the Conservatives said they would not allow people to break the law to feed habits.
The usual wrangle between Edinburgh and London continued for years with Downing Street suggesting Scotland could, if it wanted, use its discretion to allow these injecting rooms to go ahead.
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The stalemate ended when Scotland’s most senior prosecutor issued a landmark decision that it would not be in the public interest to arrest those using such a facility.
One expert has told me this new concept is unlikely to lead to an overall reduction in deaths across Scotland. Another described it as an expensive vanity project. Supporters clearly disagree.
The question is what does success look like?
The big test will be if there is a spike in crime around the building and how it will work alongside law enforcement given drug dealers know exactly where to find their clients now.
It is not disputed this is a radical approach – and other cities across Britain will be watching closely.
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