Oleksandr Bilyy, a 39-year-old delivery driver, was in Glasgow making a drop off when he heard the news: Russia had invaded his homeland.
That was on Thursday morning. He is now heading to Ukraine.
Mr Bilyy and two friends intend to defend their country against the Russian invasion. "It’s our homeland," Mr Bilyy told The Telegraph shortly before leaving on Friday. "We have to go there. We have to fight."
They will travel by road from Basildon, taking the Channel Tunnel into France before driving through Germany and Poland en route to Lviv, the city in western Ukraine where Mr Bilyy’s family lives. The three men will then take up the arms provided by the Ukrainian government.
Mr Bilyy knows he is risking his life. "Definitely," he said. "You know, anything could happen, because it’s war. Already a lot of people have died there. But we have to support them - we have to go there."
They will fight tooth and nail to repel the Russians.
“We have to take them out of our country,” Mr Bilyy said, “so they have to forget about us. Do whatever they want” - within their own borders, that is - “and we will do what we want. And we will live how we want, manage our life, live our lives and bring up our kids.”
'They will want to take our lives'
Like many of his countrymen, Mr Bilyy will be relying on military training that he received in his early teenage years. "It was very important to do because we knew that one day Russians will come," he said. "They will want to take our lives, so we have to be ready."
Mr Bilyy, who works for Brother Parcel Post and has been living in the UK for five years, will be joining his 21-year-old son in the fray.
The Russians would not be able to match the Ukrainians’ fighting spirit in their attempt to occupy the country, Mr Bilyy warned. "A lot of Russians will die to do this and I think they don’t want it," he added.
Of Western support for Ukraine, he said: "It’s very helpful, but I think they could do more to stop all this s—."
'Give us guns'
Mr Bilyy called not for Western troops but for munitions - and for help preventing Russia from accessing the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus straits. "We don’t want your people to die," he said. "Our people will die. But give us guns. That’s it."
Dozens of Ukrainian expats are making the same journey as Mr Bilyy, and have been hailed for their courage. But Mr Bilyy saw their bravery as universal.
"If something like that happened with your country, you’re going to do the same," he said.
