A Kiwi has revealed the scary and heartbreaking journey required to flee war-torn Ukraine to get to safety in Poland.
Christchurch man Jason Marrable, who currently lives on the Gold Coast, travelled from Australia to meet his sister-in-law Iryna Khiliuk and their nine-month-old son Maxim (Max) in Warsaw, the Polish capital.
Marrable told AM on Wednesday Khiliuk and Max had been living in Kyiv until less than a week ago.
They decided that Khiliuk and Max needed to leave the capital so they spent the next week on a "harrowing journey" down from Kyiv to the Polish border.
"It was terrifying. They went in a convoy, where there was a bunch of other families," he told AM.
"They were doing small 100 to 150km journeys. One family was pretty much pulling a short straw, they were going forward making sure the way was safe, then they would call the rest of the convoy and they would travel down and they did that over the next five to seven days.
"They had no food, they literally had the clothes on their back and a plastic bag with their belongings.
"They travelled at night, stopping at farms asking farmers for milk to feed the babies. It was a really, really terrifying situation for them all."
Khiliuk had to leave her husband, Vadik, behind as Ukraine has instated martial law, where male citizens aged 18 to 60 cannot leave the country.
Marrable told AM he couldn't fathom what it would've been like for Vadik to say goodbye to his wife and his child not knowing when he will next see them.
"These are normal everyday people. Vadik is a carpenter, Iryna is a stay at home mum, now he's fighting for his life," Marrable said.
"Iryna, her world has been turned upside down and nine-month-old Max is now a displaced war child and there aren't just those three people, there are tens of thousands.
"There is a Ukraine war child becoming a refugee every second, so I cannot believe or can't understand what that would've been like saying goodbye to your wife and your child."
The New Zealand Government announced on Tuesday they had created the largest ever special visa category, offering visas to 4000 family members of Ukrainian-born New Zealanders.
Marrable said the next step in their journey is to apply for one of those visas for Iryna and Max.
They will leave Warsaw for Frankfurt in Germany tomorrow, where they will be hosted by a German family that reached out to them. Once the visas are issued, they will depart Germany in about two weeks.
Marrable said it's "heartbreaking" to see families not knowing what the next chapter of their life holds after fleeing Ukraine.
The United Nations said about 2.95 million people have so far left Ukraine and is basing its aid plans on 4 million refugees but has said the figure will likely increase.
"I've been going down to the Warsaw train station every morning to help where I can, providing food, volunteering with Red Cross," Marrable told AM.
"You know it's a desperate situation for these people, they have literally the clothes on their back. It's heartbreaking seeing mums and children and there is no men. All those 18 to 60-year old able-bodied men are either fighting and are going to live or fighting and going to die or are hiding.
"You can see the desperation in their eyes, it's a heartbreaking thing to look at and there is only so many people that you can help during the day …but unfortunately, there are people that are stuck there and are really in a hopeless situation."
A GoFundMe page has been created to help with Iryna and Max’s long-term expenses, which has so far raised over $17,80 in just a few days
Companies like Flight Centre had reached out and offered to cover flights to their new home.
