Watch: astonishing moment Russian missile narrowly misses horse rescue vehicles

The team working with members of the racing community rescuing horses from war-torn Ukraine were at the centre of a terrifying incident when a missile exploded just yards away from them near Kharkiv.

Trainer Gay Kelleway, who has made four trips to the Poland-Ukraine border to help the rescue effort, posted a video of the dangers facing the volunteers on Twitter.

The video was recorded from a car following a lorry and shows a rocket flying over the vehicles and hitting the ground near a road, shaking the camera as it detonates and creating a huge blast with a ball of fire and smoke filling the sky.

Five people were reported to be travelling in the two vehicles, along with four horses in the lorry, and all are said to be unhurt following the incident.

Kelleway was sent the video from one of the team in Ukraine. She is in Britain but is planning on making another trip next month with fellow volunteer Charlie Thornycroft.

"People don't realise that's what we're up against over there," Kelleway said. "I could hear gunfire all the time I was over there. That's what Charlie has been going through and until you see it yourself, you don't realise how horrific it is."

Thornycroft said a Polish vet, Kuba, was driving the lorry and that she had been in touch with the team via WhatsApp this week.

She said: "Everybody is okay from that moment. It's not hugely unusual, although it's startling to have it recorded, and those are the kind of dangers people are facing 24/7.

"It's a stark image, but that's why Gay and I are still involved and many people are battling to work out there. That is the reality they're living."

The shocking incident

On Saturday, Kharkiv was hit by one of the most intense attacks in weeks after four Russian missiles struck the city centre.

Those attacks increased further across the country on Monday as Russian forces retaliated to Saturday's explosion on the bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

Kelleway and Thornycroft, who has overseen rescue efforts from eastern Poland, are among those from racing raising donations and pulling together volunteers to drive more than 1,000 miles to an equine rescue hub near Rzeszow in south-east Poland. The mission has also involved rescuing refugees fleeing for their lives.

Regarding the next trip, Kelleway said: "I'm going over with Charlie next month and we're trying to get 17 horses back across Europe. We've got them in a holding space eight hours from the Poland-Ukraine border and they need to get to Ireland.

"We're trying to rescue horses and move them to a safe place. It's worse than it's ever been and aid has disappeared, but we're soldiering on with the little resources we have."

A total of 6,221 civilian deaths during Russia's invasion of Ukraine has been verified as of October 9 by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

If you want to donate to Gay Kelleway's fundrasing effort, click here to give your support.

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