Man and pregnant wife to cross Ukraine border

Speaking to the Echo on Sunday, Jon Bryant from Southampton said he and his wife had secured a taxi ride to escape Russia’s invasion of the eastern European country.

They had faced a 20km queue but as of 11pm on Sunday (1am on Monday in Ukraine), they were about to be bussed into Poland.

It comes as Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office said envoys will meet with Russian diplomats as invading forces draw closer to the capital Kyiv.

Jon and his wife – together with their French Bulldog puppy Daisy – left the western city of Lviv to make the 95km journey in the hope they can leave the country at war.

They had stayed at a hotel in Lviv, spending time in an airstrike shelter in the city as sirens warned of danger.

Jon Bryant and his wife

The couple had been waiting in the city for a UK visa for Jon’s wife, who is seven months pregnant, but now hope they can get this in Poland.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson last night announced refugees can come without a visa if they have family in the UK.

Read more: Cruise captain stuck in Ukraine waiting for visa for pregnant wife

The cruise liner captain, 51, said they travelled through a ‘heavily fortified’ checkpoint on their way to the Korczowa-Krakovets border but face a long queue.

Jon said: “If I was alone I’d be fine with just going with the flow but with (my wife’s) condition I need to try and get help going to the border and through into Poland.”

Jon’s sister, Sharon Morris, 54, who lives near Burley in the New Forest, told the Echo the family is concerned for the couple.

She said: “We’re all very close and this is terrible – this is devastating for us.

“We don’t want him stuck there we want him here as soon as possible.

“He shouldn’t be in this situation now – we’re all very worried.”

Banks in Ukraine are 'struggling' but shops remain open, Jon said, although access to cash is becoming increasingly difficult.

There are signs of 'apprehension and concern,' Jon said. "But they're not going around panicking here by any account,” he said of the Ukrainian people.

Jon and his wife had made a 14-hour journey by rail from their home in Odessa after Vladimir Putin's troops invaded five days ago.

P&O cruise captain Jon, who had semi-retired and moved to Ukraine early last year to be with his wife, said the conflict had been inevitable and he had expected it for weeks.

But he said: “I can understand the bigger issues involved here preventing people helping the Ukrainians but at the end of the day, they need help.

“They're a great people. They've got a good president.

"You can see that these people will not go lightly.

"They will suffer because Russia's such a large power. Putin is just that type of Hitler style... he's not going to stop and that's the problem."

Jon said he is focussed on trying to get out of Ukraine and get back to the UK.

He said: "I was working as a captain on a cruise line. So I was used to dealing with issues and, staying flexible to problems - big problems - sometimes. But not like this."

The British government was criticised over the weekend over its handling of visas for fleeing Ukrainians.

A spokeswoman told the Echo it was ‘working around the clock to process visa applications’.

Royston Smith, MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “The Russian invasion is despicable and through it all we must never lose sight of the innocent lives impacted.

“Mr Bryant and his family should leave as quickly and as safely as possible.

“He can repatriate to the UK from Poland and I hope that once Putin has come to his senses or been repelled by Ukrainian forces they can return safely, should they wish to do so.”