A Manchester man is among thousands of refugees stranded at a Ukrainian border post as people flee the Russian invasion.
Jez Myers, 44, and his girlfriend Maria Romanenko, 29, spent ten hours driving in a friend's Vauxhall Astra from the under-fire capital Kiev to Lviv in the west then to Shehyni at the border with Poland.
Jez, a business consultant from Reddish, has described growing tensions as the queue to cross into Poland increased to 'tens of thousands', with some chanting 'open the door' in a desperate bid to exit Ukraine.
"We're tired but we're safe - that's main thing," Jez told the M.E.N. on Friday afternoon.
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"There are tens of thousands in this queue. The lack of facilities here makes things very tricky. We're trying not to eat or drink because you cannot escape anywhere," he went on.
"Spirits here range from quite happy and positive to being angry and frustrated. There's no crowd control what-so-ever here. Occasionally you'll hear 'let the children through - open the gates'."
Most of the refugees were international students rather than Ukrainians, he said.
"They're generally from all over. Like me they've made this huge journey across the country to be here and get out at the only possible exit," said Jez.
He said he and his girlfriend had been 'very lucky' and not seen any conflict.
Jez added: "What's happened is absolutely devastating for this country.
"They haven't received the support they need. They have received weapons and there are sanction but they are not going affect things immediately."
Jez has split his time between his home city and Kyiv, where his Ukrainian partner lives, since 2018.
He was due to travel to the eastern European country on February 14 but decided it was not safe due to the looming threat of a Russian invasion.
Instead, he travelled to Gdansk in Poland where he met up with his partner, Maria Romanenko. They spent nine days there before deciding to risk a return to Ukraine.
However, after flying into Kyiv on Wednesday morning, they were stunned to discover that the country was in a state of national emergency.
They packed their belongings ready to leave and stayed with friends on the outskirts of the capital.
Like many others, the pair decided to flee when they heard the explosions which signalled Russia president Vladimir Putin's invasion had started.
Maria applied for a UK visitor visa three weeks ago, but is yet to hear back from the Home Office. Due to her job as a journalist, the couple fear she could be targeted by Putin's regime.
The couple hope to complete the application for the visa once they are in Poland.
