Volunteers defy their government and public opinion in China to risk their lives for an adversary of Beijing\u2019s main geopolitical partner<\/p>\n
In a war that has been characterised by merciless attacks on civilians, one of the worst took place on 8 July 2024. Russian missile strikes killed at least 43 people<\/a> in cities across Ukraine in one of the deadliest days of the war last year. One of the most shocking blows was to the Okhmatdyt children\u2019s hospital in central Kyiv<\/a>, which reduced the country\u2019s largest paediatric clinic to rubble.<\/p>\n Tim, 43, was delivering aid on the outskirts of Kyiv when he heard a missile fly overhead. A short while later, he saw the news on his phone that the children\u2019s hospital had been hit. Along with a British friend, the Chinese national, who asked to be referred to by just his English name, rushed to the scene to help with the recovery efforts. \u201cSeeing the severed limbs, some of them belonging to children, I started crying,\u201d the father-of-two said, tears in his eyes at the memory. \u201cI thought about the kind of anger that Chinese people have. Once it\u2019s ignited \u2026 It\u2019s intense. I decided to join the army.\u201d<\/p>\n