In the tense city of Ivano Frankivsk stern-faced armed police run after us demanding to know what we are doing after hearing strange accents.
Locals hurry by nervously as Ukraine ’s fighter jets roar above and occasional air-raid sirens warn the virus of Putin ’s war machine could soon be heading their way.
Two of Moscow’s spies have already been arrested here but the police who stopped us immediately smile when we show UK press cards and passports.
One says: “We have found a few people up to no good here already. Everybody is on alert and we are just doing our job. Thank you for coming. Ukraine needs help.
“The world needs to know what is happening in Ukraine. The whole of Ukraine is helping the war effort, even here, and we are ready for anything.”
This defiant, usually conservative, town is plastered with posters advertising what it thinks of Russian forces invading its country.
Billboards scream: “Russian ship - go f*** yourself,” without the asterix and shouting support for the Ukrainian border guards who so bravely defied a Russian warship with the same words.
Ivano Frankivsk, in the west, has become a hub of the war effort, supplies pouring in every day, up to £10,000 worth of medication, military clothing and food - all of it headed for the frontline.
It is a breathtaking civilian supply chain, patriotic locals, even helmets bought in the UK, Germany and other western countries are being ferried out.
They are processed by students and civilians keen to back their hero troops.
Children and women are knitting camouflage netting to hide Ukrainian fighting vehicles and soldiers’ hideouts in a citizen network of a kind not seen since World War II.
The camouflage is being ferried to the front along with ammo pouches, socks, boots, body armour, equipment bags, medication, food and bandages.
We see even night vision goggles in boxes being processed before being sent to the front.
Restaurant and bar staff here give up their tips and raise hundreds of thousands of pounds every week, all to pay for military equipment to help the war effort.
One restaurant chain we came across in west Ukraine is raising around £200 a week from patriotic waitresses and waiters giving up their tip money.
In one day just before war broke out 13 days ago Ukraine’s civilians raised a staggering £520,000 via Ukraine’s Come Back Alive campaign.
Oksana Kaminska, 30, who runs a local restaurant chain called 23
Restaurants says: “All of the tips here go to the war effort.
“The war is not here yet but we all feel it. We want to help our brave troops. They are doing such an amazing job.”
Shops too are giving up profits to the cause of defending against the tyranny of Russian President Vladimir Putin ’s bloody invasion.
In Ivano Frankivsk we found the equipment being processed in the community’s National Drama Theatre.
Volunteer Eugene Kazakov, 30, a restauranteur said: “All of this equipment is paid for and will reach our troops within days.”
Exhausted from sorting the mercy packages he added: “I even have a car full of military helmets outside. They were sent out from the United Kingdom and we will send it to the frontline as soon as possible.”
Virtually everybody in this city has mobilised for the national war effort,
even giving out rooms to accommodate desperate refugees from eastern Ukraine.
Local yoga teacher Olya Demydenko, 29, said: “My boyfriend and I have given our spare room to refugees - as many as eight in one room.
“I am not teaching at the moment so I have given 60 yoga mats to the troops on the frontline. They need the mats to lie on in the cold. Everybody is helping.”
Even as towns in west Ukraine prepare for a possible Russian onslaught, they know their frontline troops have to hold the line to protect the homeland.
Asked if his town is about to be assaulted Ivano Frankivsk’s gun-toting Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv told the Daily Mirror: “Anything is possible - they bombed our airport on the first day of the war.
“Everything is being done to help the war effort and Britain has done a lot more than many countries to help.
“But if I was asked what else your country can do I would say: ‘Give us guns. We need more guns.”
One of the spies arrested recently was a Russian man and another a woman from Kyiv who were caught by Ukraine’s SBU.
The Mayor added: “There will be more I am sure but our security service and police will catch them.”
Asked about the gun he is carrying on his side the Mayor smiles and says:
“Well, I am staying right here in this city and I will fight.
“I am going nowhere.”
