CCTV captures moment ambulance sent to Ukraine from Wales is blown up in missile attack

An ambulance fundraised by an A&E doctor in Wales and sent over to Ukraine has been blown up in a missile attack.

Video footage shows the ambulance, thought to be one of two vehicles sent from Wales in March, being struck by a missile before heavy smoke obscures the image.

The ambulance travelled more than 2,000 miles to the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv to help deliver vital emergency healthcare amid the Russian invasion.

Dr Mateo Szmidt, an emergency medicine consultant at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, has led the fundraising for ambulances and medical supplies to be sent to the war-torn country.

He described the footage as "disheartening and worrying".

"The idea of an ambulance is to help people and to provide aid to someone, not see it destroyed by some kind of ruthless people with no morals," he said.

"I think even in times of conflict, there's certain rules that people should play by - but this video just demonstrates that these rules aren't being followed in the conflict in Ukraine."

No one was in the vehicle at the time of the attack, but Dr Szmidt is waiting to find out the extent of the damage and whether the ambulance can still be used.

He says the ambulances are being directly targeted and there are discussions on whether to paint the vehicles a different colour so they are not so easily identified.

"There is a bit of a staggering kind of quote from Medical Aid Ukraine that said about 18 ambulances are being destroyed every single day in Ukraine," Dr Szmidt said.

"We thought about painting them… it's not something that we've decided to go ahead with at the moment."

Each ambulance is filled with medical supplies and equipment such as anaesthetic machines, pumps, defibrillators, and other critical care equipment.

Dr Szmidt has been fundraising since the start of the war in Ukraine and has so far raised £26,000 and bought three ex-NHS ambulances.

Two, including the one that has been shelled, are positioned out in Ukraine already.

The third is currently being serviced and loaded up with medical equipment in Wales before heading to the Poland-Ukraine border to be handed to Ukrainian medics.

When asked how medical staff are feeling on the ground, Dr Szmidt said: "A lot of medics that are out there are in tears because of what they see around them.

"But overall, everybody's out there - they have their low moments but mostly, I would say, they've got their high moments because they're there to help.

"When they see good happening over more evil things happening, it gives them that motivation to carry on and do more."

Dr Szmidt is continuing to raise money for more aid and ambulances, with the cost of an ambulance varying from £6,000 to £7,000.

He explained that NHS ambulances get sold on once they have been withdrawn from service, and that he bought one that has been decommissioned from a private motor company.

"I did try to get an ambulance donated [by the health board], but unfortunately, with the current crisis with ambulances, there are no ambulances being decommissioned from the two sites I spoke to," he said.

He is hoping to buy rapid response vehicles, which are able to get to patients faster.

"These vehicles can get into certain areas much quicker and can leave areas much quicker than an ambulance," he said.

"If the road is shelled, or is destroyed, there's lots more obstacles for an ambulance."

Dr Szmidt said the Welsh public had been “amazing” with their generosity, adding: "Everybody's been brilliant - we're all on a mission to help the people of Ukraine. We've done so much already, but there's always more that we can do."

His fundraising initiative comes as part of a wider effort by Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board, which manages Prince Charles Hospital.