'PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP YOUR UKRAINE SUPPORT NOW'

A UKRAINIAN who fought alongside Britain to defeat the Nazis has pleaded, "Do not give up on us", as the country battles for survival 80 years on.

- ]Zak Garner-Purkis and Natalie Gryvnyak

Volodoymir Overko, 99, spoke of his admiration for Winston Churchill and the unbreakable Blitz spirit.

As the UK begins its celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, he praised Britons for standing shoulder to shoulder with his homeland.

But Volodoymir warned Russia's onslaught under the orders of Vladimir Putin is going to get "much worse". He told the Daily Express: "I want to tell the British people - thank you, and beware. Because Russia is a great danger to Europe. Although Britain understands this more than most other countries.

"I think of the UK as particularly special because it supports Ukraine with such strength. Please do not give up this support because it's going to get much worse." On the outbreak of war in the Soviet Union, a 15-year-old Volodoymir and his friends rushed to their local army recruitment centre pleading to join the fight.

He was rejected and instead joined Ukraine's equivalent of the Home Guard, patrolling the streets of Kyiv as the Nazis launched a brutal campaign to take the city.

That onslaught bears grim similarities to the offensive launched by Putin in 2022, with Volodoymir among the very few with memories of both attacks.

Pulling out his much-loved copy of Churchill's autobiography, he said: "We all know about how Britain persevered during the terrible bombings of London.