Brit dad who travelled to Kyiv to be with family would '100% bear arms to fight Russia'

A British dad vowed to fight to defend his wife’s Ukrainian city after his 46-hour, 500-mile trip to be reunited with her and their toddler son.

Ian Umney, a 28-year-old teacher, had an emotional reunion with Nelia, 26 and two-and-a-half-month-old Jonathan.

He dashed across Europe to be by their side and sobbed when he saw his little boy and the toddler reached out his arms to greet him.

Ian said today: “One hundred per cent, I would bear arms and fight the Russians.

“I think Nelia will want to stay in Nikopol. If she wants to stay, then I will arm myself and defend her city.”

Ian Umney packing his bag before leaving the UK (Ian Umney535 TikTok)

Farmers seized and burned the Russian Pantsir-S, self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery, near the village of Bashtanka in Mykolaiv, Ukraine (Newsflash)

He posed for a heartwarming photo with Nelia and Jonathan in her parent’s apartment in the southern city of Nikopol.

The cute tot wearing a Paw Patrol jumper was cradled in his daddy’s arms after his emotional journey.

Ian added: “It was a very emotionally charged moment when I saw them.

“My son held out his arms for me and I wept into my wife’s shoulder. It was such a relief and more than worth the risk and stress of travelling.

Ian flew from Manchester to Krakow in Poland on Sunday before catching a train to Livi in his wife’s homeland on Monday.

Following heavy delays and cancellations on the railways he then caught another overnight train to Nikopol.

Damage to buildings in the Ukrainian city of Borodyanka (pixel8000)

Ian, of St Helen’s, Merseyside said: “It’s been heartbreaking being without my family. But it’s quite exhilarating to be on a journey to see them. We are going to spend some time together. We have been apart for a month.

“We need to make a sensible decision about what we are going to do next for the three of us.”

Ian Umney with his wife and son (Ian Umney Facebook)

Before the invasion, the couple and their son had been planning to live together in Britain.

Ian and Nelia had a whirlwind romance after meeting while he was on holiday in Ukraine.

“I came here in 2016 and I met my now wife on my fourth day,” he added. We got married in January 2017. We had our son Jonathon in October 2019.

“I lived in the Ukraine for nearly six years, but before the invasion we had decided we would all move to the UK. We spent Christmas together in the UK, then they went back to Ukraine for a bit.”