Glasgow man and family reach Poland after fleeing besieged Ukrainian city

Sean Cusick and his family made it to the western city of Lviv a few days ago after escaping Kharkiv, which has been devastated by Russian bombs. 

Mr Cusick, his Ukrainian wife Chloe and their two-year-old son Everett had been left stranded in the country due to a lack of money and problems with travel documents.

After two attempts to cross the border, they arrived at a Polish refugee camp and are now en route to Krakow to seek specialist medical treatment for Chloe and apply for a family visa to enter the UK.

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Refugees wait in a crowd for transport after fleeing from the Ukraine and arriving at the border crossing in Medyka, Poland, Monday, March 7.

In an update on the Telegram messaging app seen by the Glasgow Times, he wrote: ”On our way to Krakow."

Just hours earlier, the family had written: "Arrived at refugee centre, organising transport to Krakow.”

As the family reached Lviv after spending 15 hours at Kharkiv’s train station, they sought to reassure their loved ones but also told of their dramatic escape.

Mr Cusick had written: “Everything is a blur. 

“I wasn't sure what day it was when I woke up. These past 12 (?) days have been the longest I've ever experienced, each day merging together from lack of sleep. 

“Since then we have been trying to recover; to recover our sleep, nutrition, and strength. 

“Although we are in relative safety, every noise and rumble makes me incredibly anxious. 

“It is clear from the sandbags outside of buildings, and from the general atmosphere, that people here feel that it is only a matter of time for the front to reach here [Lviv].”

Mr Cusick also described the images of destruction in Kharkiv, Chloe’s hometown. 

He told of how the city had been “destroyed completely by daily explosions”, with schools, hospitals, animal shelters and civilian transport targeted by Russian attacks.

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Kharkiv

The family had to leave everything behind, including Chloe’s extended family and two rescue dogs, along with all their belongings. 

Mr Cusick said he had moved to Ukraine in October to get married to Chloe after she returned from China, where she had been living for ten years.

He said since they got married in November, they had been trying to leave but his wife doesn’t have the documents needed for her passport and is now unable to collect them.

She was due to pick up her national ID on the day Russia started its invasion of Ukraine. 

As the conflict exploded, he started a crowdfunding page to fund their escape and pay for Chloe’s medical bills, which has now reached more than £16,000.

You can donate to the Cusick family’s fundraiser here, any surplus funds will be donated to help people in Ukraine.