A dad living in the UK who went Ukraine for a skiing holiday fears he will become a 'meat bag' after he found himself conscripted into the country's military.
Tymofii Dmytrenko, 39, went on a family vacation with his wife and two kids but has now been put on standby to fight Russian forces following Russia's invasion of Ukraine eight days ago.
The IT specialist, known as Tim, left the UK for Kyiv on February 18, intending to hit the slopes and visit his parents during a ten-day visit to his home country.
The family cut their holiday short when warnings of the invasion become clear and attempted to flee to the border.
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After an epic journey, Tim helped his wife Iryna, 36, and their two kids, 11 and 15, get into neighbouring Slovakia, and the three of them are now safely back in the UK.
Tim, however, has been forced to remain and sign up for the military, as all men between 18 to 60 are forbidden to leave the country.
Tim, who has never held a gun in his life, says at this moment he fears he will become a 'meat bag' if he is put into an active combat situation.
He said: “I think I am ready to serve my country, but I have mixed feelings.
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“I have never held a gun or shot from it, and I don’t have any real military experience.
“I feel like without any proper training I’m kind of a meat bag at this moment in time, and this is worrying. I don’t know how these things will progress."
He added: “It’s still a shock to many people here. We still don’t understand that this can be happening in the middle of Europe, next to the European Union.
Tim, like millions of refugees, became stuck in the western part of the country but they did managed to get take a taxi to Uzhhorod, near the border with Slovakia.
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“When we came to Uzhhorod, we then waited for a bus for two hours with our kids. The estimated arrival time was 11:30 pm, but it didn’t come.”
The following morning, he managed to book tickets for his wife and two children to get a bus to a small town over the border with Slovakia.
He said: “I put my wife and kids on that bus at 4pm, and it was a heart-breaking moment for me and my family.
“Everyone was crying, my kids were crying, my wife was crying. I wasn’t able to stop crying for a few hours after that. But luckily, they got through the border."
Topics: Ukraine
Isobel Pankhurst