Ukraine war: Scots rescue pair tell of Russian gunpoint ordeal

Joe, left and Gary, were given a letter from Ukrainian police to help them get through stop checks on the road as they travel through the war-ravaged country

Two Scots friends helping to evacuate Ukrainian refugees have told how Russian soldiers held them at gunpoint.

Joe McCarthy, 55, and Gary Taylor, 45, have been moving people across the border into Poland after driving to Ukraine at the start of the conflict.

The landscape gardeners got caught in a convoy of Russian troops as they headed for the north-eastern city of Sumy.

During a terrifying stand-off, they had supplies taken from them and the tyres on their truck shot out.

Joe, from Airth near Falkirk, told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme he felt like it was "an open field day for troops".

He said: "The last couple of days we've been held at gunpoint by Russian troops, we've had our tyres shot out, we've had our truck ransacked, they've stolen my phone."

One of the Russian bullets went straight through the rim of the tyre on the men's truck

Joe and Gary, from Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, were halted by the soldiers as they headed to a refugee pick-up point.

Joe said: "Basically, we ended up on the tail of a Russian convoy. They let us get halfway down for some reason, I don't know why, and then they wouldn't let us past.

"We were told to park at the side of the road and wait for the convoy to pass. And then it was just like open field day for troops.

"As so many went past, some would jump out and get us out the van, held us at gunpoint and rummaged through the van.

"They took what food we had, took what cigarettes we had, took my phone away. And then they shot our tyres out, and me and Gaz were like, woah'."

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The friends, who work together at Joe's company Ready2Rock, were eventually allowed to move on before being helped by local people.

Joe said: "We drove down the road with two flat tyres. Although we did have a spare, it wasn't worth putting on.

"We did about 15 miles on flat tyres and then some locals saw us, and put some second-hand tyres on the car.

"We still managed to get to Sumy. We managed to collect a young student called Rachael from Ireland as well as six other people before the bombing started last night.

"So they were well away and well safe."

'Just go for it'

The pair are still ferrying people to the border and do not plan on returning to Scotland soon.

"We got around 300km (186 miles) away from Sumy and are now heading towards Uman," Joe said.

"We will stay there for the night then get back to the border tomorrow. Me and Gaz will stay here as long as we can."

He said his wife was "really upset and crying" when they spoke on the phone on Monday.

"It was her birthday actually, so I obviously didn't make it. But we had a chat and said we can get back into Uman and save these people and she said, you just go for it. So that's what we'll do."