A man from Kyiv says he’s ready to defend Ukraine and is trying to move his 11-year-old daughter to safety in the midst of the ongoing Russian attack on Ukraine.
Sergii Putsov said in an interview with Global News’ Crystal Goomansingh on Sunday that he’s been driving 26 hours non-stop from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to Lviv in the west to help his daughter get to Poland.
“We have a 30-kilometer line of cars from the border. It’s like about 100,000 people now crossing the border in different ways by walking, by driving, by train. So it’s not so easy to do this,” said Putsov.
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Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has entered its fourth day. The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces described it Sunday as “a difficult time” as Russian troops “continue shelling in almost all directions.”
Putsov has made it his priority to move his daughter and her mother to Poland where they can be safe.
According to the U.N. refugee agency, nearly 120,000 people have fled Ukraine so far, into Poland and other neighboring countries.
The agency expects up to four million Ukrainians to flee if the situation deteriorates further.
Those arriving have been mostly women, children and the elderly. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy banned men of military age from 18 to 60 from leaving, under a declaration of martial law.
Putsov is a fitness coach and professional weightlifter who has served in the Ukrainian forces in the past. He knows he has a duty to serve when called, but for now, he wants to get his daughter to safety.
“I’m not willing to take a weapon and shoot now…but if I will stand in line, of course, I will defend,” he said. “We understand that this is our land. We understand that we have a right to be free like other people and live on our land.”
A fierce battle was underway Sunday in Kharkiv, where Russian troops blew up a natural gas pipeline before daybreak, according to the Ukrainian state agency.
Until Sunday, Russian troops had remained on the outskirts of Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million about 20 km south of the border with Russia, while other forces moved their offensive deeper into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, in the capital Kyiv, where a curfew has been extended until Monday, clashes have subsided and Ukrainian forces are resisting the Russian offensive.
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“I believe that people will fight till the last drop of blood,” said Putsov.
He also said people who aren’t fighting are also helping in other ways.
“Today my girlfriend and I spent a few hours bringing clothes to people that just arrived (in Lviv) from different parts of Ukraine,” said Putsov.
He said he’s not a “big fan of God” and doesn’t want people to just pray for Ukraine.
“If you want to help, do something, burn Russian flags … Go and do some action. Ask your government to help,” said Putsov.
— With files from Crystal Goomansingh, Saba Aziz, Reuters, The Associated Press, Reuters
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