Meet the incredible Yorkshireman who has clocked up 500 days volunteering in Ukraine

Despite the deadly danger of bombs and being shelled delivering supplies, one Yorkshireman’s extraordinary commitment to the people of Ukraine saw him clock up more than 500 days volunteering in the war-torn country.

“Mentally and physically, we have been pushed to the limit of exhaustion,” said Michael Betoin, whose base has become an apartment in the city of Kharkiv, where many homes have been damaged or destroyed.

“But I can see the difference we make here. Soldiers will hug you. Mothers with babies will hug you, cry and thank you over and over again. When children who have suffered unimaginable hardship smile at you for giving them gifts and chocolate, that is all the motivation you need to keep going. When it is all over, I just want to know that I did my best. That’s all.”

Mr Betoin first went to Ukraine in March 2022 and is now on his longest single stint of more than 10 months. Most of his time has been spent in Kharkiv, which is only 25 miles from the Russian border.

Bombs regularly fall on the city, shaking the apartment block in which Mr Betoin lives. He’s heard over 500 explosions, the nearest being just 200 metres away.

“I’ve learned to cope with the stress and anxiety of it,” he said, while acknowledging the impact of his experiences may not be fully felt until he is finally and permanently away from danger. “It’s become normal. You just carry on like it’s normal life.”

Currently working with the Ukrainian charity Turbota, Mr Betoin is providing humanitarian aid and non-lethal supplies to the military such as camouflage suits and nets.

It’s a far cry from life in Grosmont, North Yorkshire, where the 59-year-old was living before his Ukrainian mission began.

Mr Betoin had developed a keen sense of self-reliance after travelling and working all over the world for the last 20 years. Horrified by news coverage of the Russian invasion which began in February 2022, he decided he had to do something.

That something initially involved fundraising for supplies and a van hire before travelling on his own to a refugee camp run by Malteser International near the Ukraine/Hungary border. After returning to Yorkshire, Mr Betoin initially thought he had ‘done his bit’ before soon changing his mind.

“When I got home and for about two days, I thought I had done enough. In my heart though, I felt destiny was calling and… I left to make my own way to Kyiv just a few weeks later. My philosophy is simple; those of us who can help have a duty to.”

After reaching the Ukrainian capital in July 2022, Mr Betoin joined up with a group called ‘Brave to rebuild’ which was clearing up the destruction of nearby Irpin and Bucha.

He then decided he wanted to be nearer the fighting, where he felt he could make the most difference, and took a train to Kharkiv where he has been for most of the last two years. In between the bombs, life goes on. Children are schooled in bunkers while shops and cafes remain open with an air of normality that Mr Betoin described as “surreal.”

After reaching 500 days in Ukraine on July 17, he expects to come back to the UK in September and has already begun fundraising before a planned return to Ukraine in the winter.

Donations can be made at: https://gogetfunding.com/500daysforukraine/