Ukraine conflict: Ripon man Lewis Edwards describes Kyiv escape

Lewis Edwards told his family in Ripon that if it was not for help from strangers he would not have escaped

A North Yorkshire man who escaped the Russian invasion of Ukraine has said if it were not for strangers he would not have got out of Kyiv.

Lewis Edwards, 32, and his Ukrainian girlfriend Tanya travelled from Friday until Monday night to escape.

Mr Edwards said they avoided shells and air strikes by driving through rural areas, but could see tanks and explosions from a distance.

His mother, Alison, in Ripon, said it had been a "mother's worst nightmare".

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Mr Edwards, who had been living and working in Ukraine for the past seven years, said: "If we hadn't had help from friends, friends of friends, friends of relatives, friends from all over [Ukraine], I don't think we could have got to the train station to get out."

The pair were among hundreds of thousands who fled Kyiv in darkness, travelling hundreds of miles to neighbouring countries.

Mr Edwards and his girlfriend left by car on Friday and drove west 310 miles (500km) to Lviv.

'A lot of explosions'

From there, they took a train and bus for several hours to the Slovakian border, with the constant threat of shelling.

"A lot of rockets; a lot of explosions; sirens constantly; reports of tanks coming in on different bridges and people being attacked," he said.

"We slept in the station and were woken up to the noise of a gun cocking," he said.

"They said, 'get on your knees' - but it wasn't for us."

Ms Edwards said she was very relieved her son was safe, but it had been "every parent's worst nightmare".

"I had a phone call at 4am and he had to stop the call to run to a bomb shelter", she said.

"I didn't hear from him for hours. I didn't know if he was alive or dead."

Mr Edwards' family has now started one of many online crowdfunders for Ukrainian refugees.

They said donations had been pouring in to locations across Yorkshire.