An English teacher narrowly avoided being caught by Russian bombing raids as he fled from Kyiv.
Dan Baker was a hairsbreadth from being caught in a potentially deadly Russian attack on the Ukrainian capital as he fled with his family.
The Brighton-born teacher has lived in Kyiv with his Ukrainian wife, Victoria, 34, and stepdaughter Veronica, 12, for more than five years.
As the invasion began towards the end of last month, the 41-year-old vowed to stay put with his family, even as fighting reached the city’s suburbs and they were subject to nighttime air raids.
But, they decided they had to run away after they heard claims that Russian soldiers were “raping” women within occupied areas of Ukraine.
However, only 24 minutes after they did flee the city, Russian missiles decimated its airport, only a mile from where the Bakers had been sheltering in a school basement.
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Dan’s father, when told of his son’s narrow escape, said: "You're cutting it a bit fine, son."
The teacher said it was “24 minutes more than we needed.”
Dan added: "I was quite happy to die to support my family, I wasn't scared of the fighting, wasn't scared of the war or the bombs or anything.
"The one thing that swung it for me and I said, 'That's it, I've got to get out of here', is when I heard reports that the Russian soldiers were raping the wives and the daughters of the men they had killed.
"That was enough for me because what's the point of me dying to protect my family and then, when I'm dead, that happens?"
Dan said he and his family, like many, had gotten used to the daily sound of air sirens and he spoke of the “resilience” that ordinary Ukrainians were showing in the face of the Russian invasion.
The family, together with cat Pumpkin, had all been staying in the school they run, in the basement of a brick building.
However, on Friday evening the family made the “emotional decision" to leave, joining more than two million refugees who have fled their homes.
Dan added: "It went against everything. Honestly, I felt like I was letting people down by not staying because I had promised to stay.
"But the status quo of danger had changed - it was now more dangerous to stay than leave."
The family were ready to run as soon as Kyiv’s curfew lifted at 7am, however they couldn’t take their car west because the road was “unsafe”.
Instead of the four-hour drive to Vinnytsia, they took a gruelling 15-and-a-half hour journey with heavy detours, traffic and hours of queues for petrol to keep going.
Even with accommodation being at a premium, they said an acquaintance offered them use of a “granny annexe in the garden of a big mansion”.
This was only possible because of what Dan said was “five years of networking”, before he added: “It’s a good idea to be nice to people here”.
Even though they set off early once again the next morning, it took them three hours to get more fuel.
By Sunday, the family had arrived in Khmelnytskyi, an area in western Ukraine, not far from borders to other countries.
On Monday, the family reached Lviv where, after speaking to journalists, reporters from ITV News offered them a place to stay.
He said: "They gave us a flat to stay in for three days because they don't need it at the moment.”
Dan said he was luckier than most having a car to flee in, and friends to see them up on their journey.
On top of that, it was a pure fluke the family had visas ready to go to get into England.
"My brother is getting married on April 2 and so we already had visas to come to the UK," he said.
"I think I'm going to fall apart when I get to England, but we'll be in a safe place - so that's all right," Mr Baker added.
