Nathan Rossiter lives in Kharkiv with Ukrainian wife Lena who he married in 2015
(Picture: Supplied )Britons stuck in Ukraine have spoken of their terror amid the prospect of war.
Nathan Rossiter, 31, lives in Kharkiv, just 25 miles from the border where thousands of Russian troops are massed, with Ukrainian wife Lena and son Leo, five.
Website designer Mr Rossiter, from Harlow, Essex told the Standard: “I’m quite nervous and frightened obviously and we’re still trying to get out.
“I didn’t sleep last night. You’re constantly watching the clock. I keep walking out on to our balcony and hoping I don’t see any tanks.
“I’m checking the news websites and kept Leo home from school because people think Russia will invade on Wednesday.
“I’m hugging him that little bit tighter.
“My mum in the UK is petrified. She’s calling every day letting me know the updates and checking that we’re okay.”
Harlow MP Robert Halfon and the Home Office are helping the family obtain a family visa so Mrs Rossiter, 24, a nail technician, and Leo can escape.
“I can’t wait to get back to Harlow,” said Mr Rossiter who has live in Ukraine for around six years.
He said they had stocked up on food, with supermarkets remaining open, but his local chemist was running out of supplies.
Ben Garratt, 40, and his wife Alice arrived back at Heathrow on Tuesday morning.
The couple, from Queen’s Park, north London moved to Kiev in December where their son was born.
Mr Garratt, who works in stakeholder engagement at London North Eastern Railway, was issued a British passport for baby Raphael and an emergency travel document.
Thanking Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq, Mr Garratt said on social media: “We are home!
“The threat from Russia meant we had to leave Ukraine sooner than planned, and we hope the people of Ukraine - to whom we are forever grateful - get to live in peace.”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who chaired a Cobra meeting on Tuesday afternoon, repeated Britain’s warning that Russia could launch an invasion “almost immediately” and reiterated calls for any of the estimated 6,000 Britons who remain to leave now.
Business investor Daniel Williams, 45, originally from the Isle of Wight, lives in Kiev with his Ukrainian wife Tetiana and three-month-old daughter Sophia.
Mr Williams’ 35-year-old wife has a valid travel visa and Foreign Office secured a UK passport for the baby within 24 hours.
But Mr Williams is taking his family on a vacation to see relatives 200 miles away in south west Ukraine to wait out possible war.
Mr Williams said today: “We’re going there to decide what to do next.
“We may be foolish for still being in this country but western Ukraine is safer than south east London.
“There’s not many seats on planes out and the cost has soared.
“People are a little bit jumpy. The government ministry websites went down and a couple of bank ATMs stopped working. People thought that Russians had hacked us.
“But apart from that, the mood here is utterly normal. Most Ukrainians say: ‘We’ve been here before and what’s the worst that can happen?’”
Staff at the UK’s embassy in Ukraine were racing on Wednesday to provide travel documents to Britons amid fears of a Russian invasion possibly within hours.
Britain’s ambassador in Kiev, Melinda Simmons, tweeted on Wednesday morning: “Taking a moment to thank all my colleagues working on consular business - in Kyiv, Lviv and in the UK.
“Working at speed to process travel docs and help UK nationals return home.”
The Home Office said immediate family members of British Nationals in Ukraine who wish to apply for a visa under the Family Migration route should call +44 (0) 300 3032785 for assistance before applying.
