A Scottish Labour MP's diary from his 'impactful' trip to Ukraine

Writing in the Daily Record, Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee describes his five days in Ukraine for an international conference.

Day 1 – Arrival in Kyiv, Zelenskyy

I awake on our sleeper train looking out to the sun rising on the outskirts of Kyiv.

I’m here with seven newly elected Labour MPs, on our first official to Ukraine.

The farmland on the outskirts of the city that I’m travelling through, is the same place that Russians soldiers landed when their full scale invasion began.

The closer we get to the city, the more buildings we see suffering from bomb damage.

We arrive and check into our hotel - an otherwise normal experience, apart from the hand out explaining what to do in the event of a Russian missile attack.

We’re for an international conference, so that’s not something I’ll have to worry about, I think to myself.

In the square outside the conference, destroyed Russian military vehicles sit as trophies of Ukraine’s achievements and reminders of what they continue to face.

As I wander around the conference venue, held several stories underground, I get stopped by a platoon of half a dozen bodyguards. Before long, I get a glimpse of the great hero – Zelenskyy with his wife.

In the hall, Zelenksy takes to the stage in his combat gear to a standing ovation.

As I watch him, I feel inspired by his continued bravery. I think of the lack of sleep that I got on my way here, and I imagine how a man runs a country and its war effort without succumbing to a breakdown.

During my time here, I’m keeping a diary for the Daily Record. Read more about my trip tomorrow.

Day 2 – Wounded soldiers

We depart the conference in our van to head to the Recovery Military Rehabilitation Centre on the outskirts of Kyiv.

Funded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk, the hospital serves soldiers wounded on the battlefield.

In one of the physical rehab rooms, I meet some of the bravest men I’ve ever seen.

Vasyl is balancing atop a series of mats.

He explains the story of how he ended up here.

While driving a combat vehicle near the front lines on 17 May, he heard a buzz.

Above him, he noticed to his horror, was a Russian drone.

It dropped a grenade.

The explosion blew off both of his legs. Thanks to the bravery of his colleagues, he was evacuated and ended up in this incredible facility.

Talking to him, you’d have no idea the unimaginable horror he had been through.

Chipper, funny and upbeat, he was a man who could overcome any obstacle.

Within weeks of arriving here, he was balancing himself – something that normally takes six months or more.

He was determined to recover. To have prosthetic legs installed and most importantly he says, to see his family and get a holiday in the mountains of Western Ukraine.

Vasyl is one of the most inspiring men I’ve ever met in my life. Yet nearly every person I spoke to on my visit instilled in me the same sense of awe.

These people are on the front lines of freedom.

They are fighting for their own country, but they are also fighting for ours.

We have given enormous support to Ukraine, but had we given more some of these men might not have suffered their wounds.

I left that hospital determined that I would do everything I can to help.

Day 3 – Bombed children’s hospital

Today our delegation to Ukraine visited Ohmatdyt Children’s hospital.

On July 8, this facility which provides healthcare to sick children was bombed by the Russian military.

I do not have the words to put down on this page to describe how deplorable this act is.

It is a war crime, but somehow that word doesn’t capture the lack of humanity that is required to aim a missile, and it was deliberately aimed, at a hospital full of kids with cancer.

Walking around the bomb-damaged hospital, I felt rage at the campaign of misery being run by Vladimir Putin and his military.

What on earth had anyone done to deserve this.

Inside the damaged hospital, we met two twin girls, aged 5, being taught the alphabet.

Their joy was infectious.

It was an antidote to the misery we’d felt walking around the site.

From the second we entered the room, the girls couldn’t stop laughing and smiling.

Perhaps overjoyed at the thought their lesson was being interrupted.

We never found out why they were at the hospital, but whatever it was that caused them to be there, it was not impacting their spirit.

Talking to the twin girls, I felt a strange twin of emotion.

The pleasure in seeing such a joy in small children, and the horror in knowing what these girls had been through.

Next door to the room we were in, the frame of the door had been broken by the aftershock of the Russian bomb.

These kids were theoretically one of the lucky ones at this facility. But there was nothing lucky, or just about their predicament.

All I want in that moment is for these children to be safe, but while Vladimir Putin remains in the Kremlin – no one in this country is safe.

Day 4 – The Russian’s attack

Returning to our hotel before the midnight curfew, I head upstairs for much needed sleep.

At around 1.40am, I’m awakened by a piercing sound.

It is an air raid siren.

The Russians are attacking.

Over the hotel Tannoy, information is blasted out explaining the route to the bomb shelter.

My phone’s alert app wails as I throw on my clothes.

From my sixth floor hotel room, I walk down the fire exit stairs and toward the bunker.

Two floors underground, in what used to be car park, but it is now a bomb shelter, I meet my colleagues.

Handily, the hotel has set up beds in the shelter.

Soon, the place fills up.

The Ukrainians, for whom this is a nightly terror, quickly settle into their beds and fall asleep.

In time, I do the same. Kyiv is surrounded by world class missile defence systems.

And they work. Of the 76 Russian missiles fired at the city that night, 72 are shot out of the air.

The biggest danger that night is from the shrapnel of the downed missiles.

One hits a building in the city, but no casualties are reported.

Of course, it is scary, but I came away with it with just a glimpse of what the people of Ukraine go through every single day.

This is the terror Vladimir Putin inflicts on everyone in this country, whether they are on the front line or not.

The bases from which these daily attacks are launched are based a few hundred kilometres inside Russia’s border.

British made equipment, which has been provided to Ukraine, is able to destroy them.

But Ukraine does not yet have the permission from the US and others to use them on targets inside Russia.

That must be rectified, and urgently.

We should give Ukraine everything they need, and more, to protect their freedom and democracy.

Day 5 – final day

All seven of us newly elected MPs, three of us Scottish, gather in a meeting room awaiting our guest.

Soon, he arrives flanked by bodyguards. It is the first time I’ve seen bodyguards look less scary than the politician themselves.

Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament is a giant of a man – both in physical stature and in his bravery.

But he soon reveals himself to be a gentle giant, at least to us.

With great warmth, he welcomes us to Kyiv and explains the challenges his country faces.

Like everyone we meet, he is incredibly grateful for the long and unwavering support that the UK has provided Ukraine.

He asks us to do everything we can to convince the world of the need to grant Ukraine permission to use Storm Shadow, the UK missiles that can hit Russian military targets deep inside their border.

Unanimously, we assure him that we will.

I tell the Speaker that in our country we remember the generation who lived through the Blitz as the greatest every generation. The same will be true of his generation for the people of the Ukraine – they will be remembered forever.

Later, we meet with fellows of the John Smith Trust.

Set up in the memory of the greatest Prime Minister we never had, the fellowship provides training to people in Eastern Europe.

The fellows we meet have a wide range of expertise – from education to military commanders.

The message is the same. Grant us access to Storm Shadow to help protect our nation.

Later that night, as I boarded the train out of Kyiv I reflected on my trip.

Naturally, I was apprehensive about entering a country at war. But I’m glad I did, it was one of the most impactful trips of my entire life.

I saw first-hand the incredible bravery of Ukraine’s soldiers, and of its people.

Vladimir Putin is a coward. He has sent tens of thousands of his own men to war while he hides in a bunker.

By contrast, Zelenksy and his people lead from the front.

They are fighting for their own freedom, but they are also fighting for ours.

The fight for Ukraine is the fight for democracy.

Slavia Ukraini.

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