Thousands of Brits are among millions of Ukrainians desperately heading for the border with Poland, with one saying he, like many, “never really believed” that Russia would invade.
Roads from the Ukraine capital Kyiv and other cities have been packed with traffic since Vladimir Putin announced an invasion and shelling began in the early hours of Thursday morning.
People have sheltered where they can including in underground metro systems while many others have taken what they can and headed for the border with Poland amid fears of a humanitarian crisis.
There could be somewhere near five million people who plan to leave Ukraine if Putin completes an invasion and possibly makes it a satellite state with a puppet leader.
And among those heading for the Polish border on Thursday were several thousand Brits who had decided to stay despite being urged to leave by the British embassy.
It was reported that there were around 6,000 Brits still in the country only a few weeks ago.
Click here for the latest updates
British Ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, repeated the advice on Thursday for Brits to leave if they can.
She tweeted: “We advise GB nationals to leave Ukraine immediately if you judge that it is safe to do so from your location.”
One Brit, Peter Dickenson, from Buckinghamshire, who was fleeing to the border with his wife and two kids, said he never believed the invasion would happen.
He told The Sun how the family got their things together and headed off saying that his daughters were “quite scared and keep asking us what’s going on”.
“Vladimir Putin is the most dangerous man on the planet, this is Hitlerian madness, and my priority now is to get my family as far away from his forces as possible," he said.
“Lots of Brits like me stayed because they never really believed it would happen — but Putin has pressed the button. It’s sickening.”
Many other Brits had similar stories.
Stuart McKenzie, a father of three, left with his Ukrainian wife and kids, having initially stayed put in Kyiv as tensions rose. He had organised a march of around 200 expats in support of Ukraine.
“Thousands of refugees are heading west now and I dread to think what awaits us but anything is better than Kyiv at the mercy of Russian troops,” he said.
“I still can’t believe this is actually happening.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said that 137 Ukrainian civilians and military personnel had died so far along with 316 injured since the invasion started.
It is thought the Russian strategy is to surround Kyiv and force it into surrender with “enemy sabotage groups” already having entered the Ukraine capital, according to Zelensky.
