Shipbroker returns to Ukraine with life-saving medical kit

A London shipbroker has made his second trip to Ukraine to deliver life-saving equipment for troops fighting on the front line.

Sale-and-purchase broker Henry Keighley raised nearly £10,000 ($12,600) from the shipping industry, relatives and friends to buy medical supplies before delivering them in his family car.

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Keighley’s first trip to Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February last year was to deliver pumps to provide clean water for women and children in cities such as Mariupol.

In his latest mission, he was met at the border by Ukrainian forces who escorted him along badly damaged roads to a secret location near the front line where he unloaded his supplies of tourniquets, gas masks, dressings, sleeping bags and body armour. The kit went to Bakhmut and Kherson, where soldiers were clearing mines at the front line, he said.

The enormity of life at war hit home when he witnessed Ukrainian soldiers being blessed by priests before going to the front line.

Keighley was taken to regional military headquarters in Lviv, western Ukraine, which had been attacked just days previously. A framed copy of a TradeWinds article about his 2022 trip was hanging in the HQ, he said.

The 40-year-old was given a bravery medal for his efforts driving alone to deliver supplies that could potentially save 300 lives, he said.

“They were very, very grateful. For me, it’s a medal for everyone who contributed,” said Keighley, who runs his own business, Hull Search International.

He told how Lviv was populated by women and children; all the men of fighting age were at war.

“Emotionally, it’s very difficult. I cried for an hour-and-a-half after I left the country this time. It’s such a desperate situation.”