British man in plea to help evacuate his family from Ukraine amid ‘terrifying’ Russian invasion

A British man has issued a plea to help evacuate his family from Ukraine after the Russian invasion of the region has left them “terrified”.

Sean Cusick, originally from Glasgow, and his wife Chloe - a Ukrainian national - live in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, alongside Chloe’s two-year-old son, Everett.

Thousands of pounds have now been raised to help the family in their bid to leave Ukraine.

Conflict has broken out across the country after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-on invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.

Citizens have been attempting to flee the country as quickly as possible , with Sean and his family being no different.

Couple tried to leave in November

Detailing their story to the BBC, Sean and Chloe, who met five years ago, said they were originally planning to leave Ukraine in November 2021 after the pair tied the knot.

However, there were many factors which meant they were not able to leave Ukraine at this time.

Chloe had been living in China for 10 years which meant that her passport and ID were invalid by the time she returned to Ukraine.

The wait for a new passport and ID was made longer after changing to her married name.

Sean also spoke of the financial struggles which contributed to them not being able to move from Kharkiv.

He said: “There’s no way we can even travel without some financial support to get to Poland - we would hopefully be able to get to the UK from there.

“[My wife] was supposed to get her national ID today (24 February) but obviously that’s been put on the back-burner for now.

“We also have some dogs and a cat - they’re part of our family, we don’t want to leave them behind. They’re just defenceless creatures that we have responsibility for.”

‘It’s hard to verify anything that’s happening’

Speaking to the BBC, Sean told of the terrifying situation that the family currently find themselves in.

Kharkiv has been at the centre of conflict, being only 26 miles from the Russian border.

Tanks were seen entering the city, with checkpoints set up on a main road on the morning of Thursday 24 February.

Sean told the BBC: “I’m getting exceedingly more terrified.

“Last night between 8pm and 4am there were no flights from Kharkiv airport, suggesting there was going to be an attack.

“There’s reports of Russian tanks within the city limits now - it’s hard to verify anything that’s happening.”

Sean is hoping to bring his family back to the UK and described the UK Home Office as “unhelpful”, adding: “You will all be aware of the escalating international crisis in Ukraine and the advice for all UK citizens to leave. However, what about those of us with families? I can’t leave Chloe and Everett behind.”

He added: “It has been a long, difficult night, we’ve barely slept, jumping at every loud sound, with the constant rumble of military hardware putting us on edge. Kyiv has been suffering badly, but it has been relatively quite this morning so far in Kharkiv.

“The reality is that this can change instantly. I was up 23 hours from when the bombs started to drop yesterday.”

GoFundMe launched to help get Sean’s family to safety

Sean has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help get his family out of Ukraine.

It has raised more than £10,000 so far as donation pour in from all over.

Speaking on the fundraising page, Sean said: “Thank you to everyone who has shared and supported my family. Your kind messages have been touching.

“We received news that Poland will accept Ukrainians without documents, and pets too -- so we plan on trying to find a way to the Polish border. From there, it should be easier to get back to the UK, if they provide a family visa.

“We will try to keep you updated, but from now on our internet access might be limited, so there may be delays in our ability to communicate.”

He added that any money which is surplus to what the family need to travel to the UK will be donated to help other people caught in the crossfire of the Ukraine conflict.

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