A plumber from Cork has answered the call to arms from the president of Ukraine asking for nationals to return home and defend their country - saying it is his “duty”.
Pavlo Serdiuk, an apprentice with Trevor Hill Plumbing, came to Ireland as an 18-year-old with his father, leaving other members of his family behind.
Now 23, he has flown back to his under-fire nation to join the resistance defending Ukraine from Putin’s forces, Cork Beo reports.
Speaking on camera as RTE News filmed from Dublin Airport, he said: "I have some doubts [about going to Ukraine], but I just took a deep breath and said 'I’m going'.
“In Ireland, it’s just me and my father — I have some family [all over Ukraine]… it’s our duty to go there.
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“I didn’t want my mother to know, but my father told her that I’m going. I’m getting calls from my mother, my mother’s sister, my grandmother — they don’t make it any easier, they say 'you’re going to die'… not going to lie, I’m scared, but I’m still going.
"I'm not going to lie I am scared, the closer you get the more scared you are but it is what it is."
Pavlo flew out of Dublin Airport with other Ukrainians, and they have been given supplies including helmets by other members of the Irish-Ukrainian community.
He was said to have been marshaling the group of men who are headed back to join the fight.
His friend Razvan Atat said he hoped Pavlo returned home “soon”.
It comes after Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky called on nationals living abroad to return and help defend their country if they are able to.
Hundreds of thousands of people have so far fled the nation in fear of Putin’s weapons.
But many have also crossed the border into Ukraine to take up arms, with Poland’s Border Guard suggesting as many as 22,000 have arrived.
President Zelensky previously announced the formation of a new "international legion" to help defend his country and appealed to foreign volunteers to come forward, promising them arms to fight against the Russian troops.
But Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has urged Brits not to travel to Ukraine.
He said he did not “"want to see British people killed any more than I want to see Ukrainians" dying.
It comes as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would support UK citizens travelling to fight in Ukraine.
She said on the BBC's Sunday Morning programme: “That is something people can make their own decisions about.
"The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe.
"Absolutely, if people want to support that struggle I would support them in doing that."
