Tributes paid to British aid workers killed in Ukraine

Two British nationals were killed while attempting a "humanitarian evacuation" in Ukraine, family members have said.

Truro-born Chris Parry, 28, and Andrew Bagshaw, 47, went missing earlier this month while heading to the town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region of the country, where heavy fighting was reported.

According to a statement from the parents of Mr Bagshaw, the pair were attempting to rescue an elderly woman in an area of intense military action when their car was hit by an artillery shell.

On Tuesday, Mr Parry's family confirmed the men were killed, in a statement released through the Foreign Office.

The statement from Rob, Christine and Katy Parry said: "It is with great sadness we have to announce that our beloved Chrissy has been killed along with his colleague Andrew Bagshaw whilst attempting a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar, eastern Ukraine.

"His selfless determination in helping the old, young and disadvantaged there has made us and his larger family extremely proud.

"We never imagined we would be saying goodbye to Chris when he had such a full life ahead of him.

"He was a caring son, fantastic brother, a best friend to so many and a loving partner to Olga.

"Chris was a confident, outward looking and adventurous young man who was loyal to everyone he knew.

"He lived and worked away as a software engineer but Cornwall was always his home. He loved rock climbing, cycling, running and skydiving and wanted to travel the world.

"He found himself drawn to Ukraine in March in its darkest hour at the start of the Russian invasion and helped those most in need, saving over 400 lives plus many abandoned animals.

"It is impossible to put into words how much he will be missed but he will forever be in our hearts.

"We feel so privileged that he chose our family to be part of."

 Claire-Anna Mitchell has been running aid missions from her home in Swansea, south Wales to Ukraine and came across Chris Parry during her humanitarian work. 

She's among those paying tribute to him. She said: "He followed his heart, he did what he thought was right, regardless of the danger. 

"His moral compass was just incredible. Such bravery for a war that essentially wasn't his. 

"The Ukrainian boys and men are being made to fight and many of them do want to but this wasn't Chris' fight - he was fighting for what he thought was right."

Claire-Anna told us how she had delivered a Land Rover to Christopher to help with his evacuations.

She says he just wanted to be able to help: "He messaged us to let us know that the car had made its first evacuation - a young mum and her little girl. 

"This guy saved countless lives and when he told us about what he had done and what he was going he was buzzing, he loved it." 

Claire-Anna also said how the disappearance of Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw meant they needed to make changes to their plans as they were heading out from Swansea to Ukraine on their latest mission. She said: "We heard about their disappearance just before we went on our last mission we changed our security protocols to be as safe as we could. 

"When we hadn't heard any news for a week we were all hoping they'd found somewhere to hide out even though chances were slim there was still hope."

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