Penrith teacher tells his story of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Andy Joseph, 32, has lived in the country for three and a half years, and was working in Kyiv as a school teacher when the Russians invaded the city.

He said: "It came as quite a shock. I woke up to a phone call from a friend in America and noticed a missed call from a friend in Australia, so that’s when I knew something was wrong.

"Of course, prior to that, we had been getting the alerts from politicians and the news about what they thought was going to happen, but no one could really be sure - and at the time it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

"People were telling us to leave but when your home is your home and you have lived in Ukraine for three and a half years it’s not so easy just to pack up and leave.

"I have had a great life living in Ukraine and I'm so thankful for that. I feel I want to repay Ukraine for making my dreams come true, giving me an excellent life... I want to repay Ukraine as much as possible for everything it has done for me.

"This is an attack on a country whose only crime is to want to be free, independent and democratic.

"This isn't just an attack on Ukraine... this is an attack on democracy."

Escape from Kyiv

Initially Andy decided to stay in his Kyiv apartment after feeling like there 'was no way out' due to gridlocked roads, booked up trains and cancelled flights throughout the city on the first day of the Russian invasion.

However, after a terrifying morning, Andy set out to flee the city.

He said: "The news told us on the Thursday night that by 3am the Russians would be arriving at the border of Kyiv which is where I live.

"So of course the first thing that I did when I woke up on the Friday was look out the window to see what was going on from my high-rise building and I was quite relieved to see that everything looked quite normal.

"Then, only ten minutes later, at ten past five, that was when the explosions started happening.

"Boom, boom, boom - there was seven in an hour and that was it for me. Time to go… it was terrifying, the explosions were like nothing I’ve ever heard before."

SHOCKING: A picture taken by Andy showing bombs going off in a Ukrainian city

Andy told the News & Star of how he began to flee the city, ducking under military tanks and listening to nearby gun shots as he made his way to the bus station where there was no buses to be found.

He said: "I had no choice but to run to the motorway and hitch a ride. I took some cash out of my wallet and waved it on the side of the road."

After a while, Andy was picked up by a 'kind lady' who drove him for the next 100 miles away from the city.

He said: "I told her, 'You have saved my life, thank you'. I was just so grateful."

The road to Lviv

Andy then stayed in the city of Zhytomyr for two days, checking into a hotel. He watched the news and made a decision to leave due to news that the Russians would be soon moving towards the city.

He said: "On my second day in Zhytomyr I was sitting in a bus station, I had sat in the station most of the day...it was just a case of sitting to see when buses would come.

"I was just sitting gazing out of the window at 6pm when once again I heard a huge explosion - boom - in the distance, everybody jumped. There was some screams and some gunfire, a huge cloud rose above the distance.

"Immediately soldiers came from all around us, they took positions with guns in hand in all the doorways and shops all down the street."

Andy and the other people in the bus station 'took cover' and looked online to see that the airport in Zhytomyr had been hit by missiles.

Andy headed on a bus to Lviv after a driver offered the journey 'like some miracle.'

SUPPORT: The apartment Andy now rents in Lviv

He was asked by a British friend who was fleeing his Lviv apartment if he would like to rent his flat - Andy hastily agreed.

He said: "It was then that I remembered how I had felt only the day before when I had no where to sleep and no where to stay, and I was very fortunate in that I could have paid the price of a hotel if I had needed, and I really thought how so many people wouldn't have had that opportunity."

'You can see the heartbreak'

Andy then decided to host refugees who were coming from cities all over Ukraine.

He said: "One woman who is staying with me now - she came from a city in the south, one of the worst affected cities in Ukraine, Mariopol.

"She had her windows and doors blown off with explosions, she described her city as flattened.

"We have had men who have been to the border already, dropped their wives and children off to safety and then returned; you can see the heartbreak in their eyes."

He began to send messages, trying to collect things from local people to make beds for refugees.

TOGETHER: Andy and Ukrainian refugees he is hosting in Lviv.

He also set up a fundraiser to help out with his efforts of support, as well as promoting the cause on Facebook and Instagram.

He said: "Today now is day 14, I have hosted around 25 different refugees. We have had families, children, older men and every person has their own story.

"I am humbled by the thanks that I get and the generosity of the people in Cumbria.

"My aim is just to provide everything people need when they get here... no matter what their background."