Ukraine: Oxford expat 'left cold' by invasion news

Wes Gleeson posted a picture of queues outside a Kyiv bank

A man from Oxford who now lives in Ukraine has spoken of his "shock" at learning Russian forces had launched a military assault on the country.

Wes Gleeson is originally from Headington and has lived in Kyiv for the last 12 years.

He said there was a "sense of disbelief" in the city following news Russia's military had breached the border and bombed a number of targets.

The 43-year-old described spending three hours queuing to withdraw cash.

In a pre-dawn TV statement Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia was launching a "special military operation".

The Ukrainian authorities said Russian military vehicles had crossed the border near Kharkiv in the north, Luhansk in the east, Russian-annexed Crimea in the south and from Belarus.

Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, Mr Gleeson said: "I was woken up by my mother-in-law saying in Russian, saying 'Putin attacked'.

Wes Gleeson, originally from Headington, lives with his wife in Kyiv

"I thought the heating was off - I was obviously in shock and feeling cold and shivery.

"After a family chat we decided to see how much cash I could get out - I was queuing for three hours. There is fear the banking system might go down, we don't really know.

"There is a bit of a rush for cash - surprisingly the shops are still open and public transport is still operational.

"People are just in shock. I saw an old guy parading a big Ukrainian flag down the street, but there's just a general sense of disbelief."

Mr Gleeson, who has been living in Kyiv since 2012, had recently moved from the city centre to the southern suburbs of the Ukrainian capital.

He said he and his family had not yet decided whether to stay or leave the city.

"It's so hard to say, the scale looks like it will go on for some time - I never thought it would be this widespread," he said.

"The last few weeks have been surreal. Most of the locals here were reluctant to think their neighbours would attack them. That began to change in the last few days."