Chris Parry: The Cornish running coach who saved hundreds from Ukrainian frontlines
It’s hard to imagine the bravery it takes to drive a van into a hotzone on the frontline, artillery fire exploding all around as you try to evacuate as many people as possible.
Chris Parry didn’t know much about Ukraine before Russia invaded in February last year, but as soon as he saw news of the invasion he knew he had to go to help.
He spent months going into recently liberated villages on some of the most dangerous parts of the frontline where he rescued dozens, perhaps hundreds, of civilians.
Confirmation of his death on Tuesday comes after he and fellow Briton Andrew Bagshaw went missing on Friday after setting out for the embattled city of Soledar.
Originally from Cornwall, 28-year-old Mr Parry was living in Cheltenham and working as a running coach before the war.
He flew out to Poland and then crossed the border into Ukraine on 5 March.
It wasn’t long before he had loaded up a van with supplies and set out to Kharkiv with a few others, taking back roads and on the lookout for the Russian soldiers that could be anywhere.
“It was a ghost town,” he told Sky News in November.
“We were driving on the main highway into Kharkiv from the south and I remember passing one tank on the back of a lorry in blizzard-like conditions.
“And there was no one else on the road – and this is like the M5 equivalent so it was very, very peculiar.
“My companions were like ‘yeah this is getting a bit scary now’.”
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Chris spoke to Sky News in November
‘I almost crashed on first trip to Kharkiv’
He said this first experience of the real war was “eye-opening”.
He told Sky News in November: “I look back on it very fondly because it was such a huge adventure.
“We broke down so much and we had so many issues because of the road conditions, we got stuck in the snow, I almost crashed.
“Lots of things happened, but we survived and that’s the most important thing.”
It seems that wherever the battle was hottest, that was where Chris headed, determined to save as many people as he could.
He did evacuation runs out of Severodonetsk as Russian forces closed in, getting people out of the besieged city before it finally fell in June.
“That was getting shelled every minute or so,” he said.
‘We were being shelled by artillery… they were watching us’
The time eventually came when he made the difficult decision to tell his parents that he had been working in Ukraine for weeks, and not in Poland as they had thought.
He didn’t want to worry them more than he needed to, but he also wanted to tell his story to spread the word about what was happening in Ukraine and how people could help.
In the days after he went missing, his family praised his compassion and care for others, and spoke of their pride in what he was doing.
Speaking to Sky News about a notable evacuation in a village east of Lyman in November, he described the scary moment they were fired upon by Russian forces.
“We were being shelled by artillery because they were watching us with a drone, and then waiting for us to park up and then they had a minute or two to try and hit us.
“We were getting hit by that quite a lot. So running to the car with people, trying to get in the car and then driving off as soon as possible was pretty high on the priority list.”
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Rescuing a family who had lived in a basement for months
In another operation, he described how he and his team rescued a family that had been sheltering for months.
“I picked up a woman and she had four young children from the age of five to 12, and they had been living in their basement under occupation since March.
“Her husband had been taken by the Russians, so of course they’re extremely concerned about him.
“We eventually got them to safety. In the car they were crying, just terrified.
“But when they came here and they got out and we got them a bed and lights are on, they give me a big hug – they’re just overwhelmed with joy but also at the same time that’s when the shock really hits them.
“Because there’s no more bangs, they’re safe and it’s kind of over. But they’ve left everything behind.”
Palestine Action can still challenge the decision to ban the group under anti-terror laws after the government lost an appeal.
The group was “proscribed” in July, making it illegal to show any support or affiliation for it, following incidents that included breaking in to an RAF base.
The Home Office appealed after a court granted the group’s co-founder a judicial review and said the ban disproportionately interfered with freedom of speech and assembly.
A woman is led away by police during Palestine Action protest on 6 September. Pic: PA
It said the government should also have consulted the group first.
Despite the ban, nearly 900 supporters were arrested at a single protest in London last month.
The judicial review of the ban was scheduled to begin on 25 November and Friday’s Court of Appeal decision means it can still go ahead.
Palestine Action called it a “landmark victory” and said co-founder Huda Ammori had also been granted permission to appeal on two further grounds.
Reacting after the court’s decision, Ms Ammori called the ban “absurdly authoritarian” and “one of the most extreme attacks on civil liberties in recent British history”.
She said 2,000 people had been arrested since it was outlawed and arresting “peaceful protesters” under the Terrorism Act was a misuse of resources.
The group’s vandalising of aircraft at Brize Norton in June – with two activists reportedly entering on electric scooters – prompted a security review of UK defence sites.
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Supporters of the group vandalised aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in June
Its supporters have carried out numerous protests in the UK, with many involving vandalism and violence.
Last year, it smashed windows and sprayed red paint on Barclays branches and this summer vandalised a Bristol defence technology firm, allegedly assaulting staff and police.
Multiple rallies for the group have taken place in London since July’s ban, with hundreds detained for showing support.
A protest at the start of this month saw another 492 people arrested despite calls for the event to be scrapped after the Manchester synagogue terror attack.
The King will become the first British monarch to pray publicly with the Pope since the Reformation 500 years ago during a state visit to the Holy See next week.
The King and Queen will meet the new pontiff Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace, his official residence, next Thursday during their trip to Vatican City.
In a highly significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor, the King and Queen and the Pope will attend a special ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel celebrating the ongoing work towards unity and cooperation among different Christian churches.
The decision for the King and Pope to pray together during the service will be the first time a monarch and the pontiff have joined together in this type of moment of reflection in the 500 years since the Reformation when, in 1534, King Henry VIII declared himself as head of the Church of England and broke from the papal authority of the Rome Catholic Church.
In another historic step, the King will be made “Royal Confrater” of the Abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls.
The abbot of the community and the archpriest of the basilica wished to confer the title and received the Pope’s approval to do so. To mark the occasion a special seat has been made decorated with the King’s coat of arms.
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King and Queen meet Pope Francis at the Vatican
The King will use it during the service, after which it will remain in the apse of the basilica for future use by His Majesty and his heirs and successors.
English Kings had a particular link with The Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls until the Reformation. It is also known as the Papal Basilica where reconciliation, ecumenism and relationships across the Christian faith are celebrated.
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King to pray with Pope
A spokesperson for the Church of England said: “The royal confrater title, whilst it confers no duties or obligations on the King, and makes no changes whatsoever to the formal, constitutional and ecclesiastical position of His Majesty as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, it is a tribute to his majesty and his own work over many decades to find common ground between faiths and to bring people together.”
The trip comes during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee year. Held traditionally every 25 years, “Pilgrims of Hope” is the theme of this jubilee.
The King and Queen met the late Pope Francis in April. Pic: Reuters
The visit will also reflect the joint commitment from both Pope Leo and the King to protect nature and their shared concern for the environment. The service at the Sistine Chapel will have the theme of “Care for Creation” and they will attend a meeting on sustainability.
A spokesperson from the Foreign Office said: “At a time of growing instability and conflict, the UK’s relationship with the Holy See is more important than ever. The Holy See is a key international actor.
“We work with the Holy See to promote human dignity, to promote peace and combat climate change… so His Majesty’s visit will strengthen the UK’s relationship with this crucial and influential global partner.”
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Only in 1961 did Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See.
In April of this year, a royal visit had to be cancelled due to the ill health of Pope Francis, but both the King and Queen did meet him privately while on a trip to Rome. It is understood Pope Leo and the King have been actively engaged in how this reorganised visit will look and the themes it will cover.
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