A former Isle of Man fire engine is being donated to a fire station in a war-torn city in Ukraine.
Manx Support for Ukraine (MSfU) will transport the vehicle to Mykolaiv in the south of the country later this month.
An anonymous donor provided the money to a charity to purchase the emergency vehicle from local events company ELS, which acquired it at auction.
Charity administrator James Quinn, who will drive it to Ukraine, said “every corner” of the engine would be stocked with medical equipment and supplies that could help Ukraine’s volunteer firefighters.
The fire station in Mykolaiv currently has only one fire truck, which dates from 1964 and has no water source on board.
The donated Volvo engine, manufactured in 1999, is equipped with water tanks and pumping facilities.
MSfU also supports efforts to rebuild the damaged fire station and provide shelter for the engine during the harsh Ukrainian winter.
As well as trying to close down firefighting efforts, Mr Quinn said they would be sending “a number of generators and heaters, anything that we think will be of use to them”.
Mr Quinn, a British army veteran, said the situation had “recently become worse” in terms of attacks on the city of 478,000.
“The Russians are attacking power plants, which is going to make things difficult for the residents of Mykolaiv this winter, and it will be a very bad winter,” he added.
MSfU has previously delivered 54 pickup trucks to Ukraine, and also sent an articulated truck filled with medical supplies from local facilities.
It has a pool of 14 drivers on the island with truck licenses who can take vehicles to the Polish border or Ukraine itself, including Mr Quinn, who has driven to Ukraine eight times in the past to make deliveries.
