On a busy Saturday afternoon in Manchester city centre, the sight of a bombed-out ambulance stops shoppers in their tracks.
Parked up in Piccadilly Gardens, the vehicle bears the scars of having been attacked by Russian artillery in Kharkiv, Ukraine. It was on display as part of a visit to the city by Ukrainian medics ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022.
The trip offered members of the public a chance to hear the testimony of those who have witnessed the horrors of the war first-hand.
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Ukrainian medics have been repeatedly targeted during the war with more than 170 killed with Russian weapons as they tried to save lives while more 1,200 attacks have targeted health centres, hospitals and ambulances over the past two years, according to event organisers the Ukrainian Solidarity Project.
Brandon Mitchell, from Canada, was among those present at the event in Piccadilly Gardens. A combat medic in the Ukrainian Hospitallers Medical Battalion, he was seriously injured when a vehicle he was driving was struck by a landmine.
He was helping to evacuate civilians from the Russian-occupied territory in Donetsk Oblast at the time.
"I spent about six weeks in a hospital," he said. "I was blown up by anti-tank mines.
"I drove over them and I have suffered lung problems and hearing loss, and a lot of cuts and scrapes. That was for evacuating civilians. It was awful, but it happened so fast."
Mr Mitchell said he first went out to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelensky called for volunteers in the days after the Russian invasion in 2022.
"Mr Zelensky is a very good talker," he explained. "I was quite inspired.
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Volodymyr Zelensky