A Glasgow delivery driver put his life on the line to rescue his friend's wife and newborn from the Romania-Ukraine border.
Pavel Ryazancev flew to Latvia before driving almost 2,500 miles in 31 hours to collect the stricken pair from their war-torn country on March 3.
The 33-year-old waded through swarms of 'terrified, crying and screaming' Ukrainians to find the woman and infant in temperatures plummeting to minus six degrees.
Chilling footage shared with the Daily Record shows cars queueing at the border while droves of people patiently wait for loved ones to cross to safety.
Pavel's selfless gesture was for his 'soulmate' friend Serhii Chaikovsky, forced to stay amid 'explosions getting closer every night' in his home city Kyiv.
Back at his parents' home in Latvia, and bound for Glasgow this week, shellshocked Pavel said the ordeal still feels like 'a bad dream'.
He told the Record: "The situation is terrifying, like a bad dream and I still haven't woken up.
"When I got to the border, women were crying for their husbands, screaming because they'd lost their children and relatives were upset because families had been split up in queues.
"Tens of thousands of people were crossing the border, but very slowly.
"The Romanian side, where I waited, seemed organised with volunteers from all over the world; Turkish, Afghan, British and more. Priests were helping as were lots of charity workers from many different countries.
"Through Whatsapp I found Sergii's wife and baby. She was very down and had tears in her eyes, but staying strong for her baby.
"Driving through the night was hard, but we had no other option I wanted to help."
Pavel met Segii through friends on a trip to Ukraine seven years ago and the pair have been buddies ever since.
"At first, Sergii wanted to stay in Ukraine but explosions were getting closer to Kyiv so eventually he got his family to Western Ukraine and then called me to get them from the border," he added.
"Sergii has to stay but he is volunteering, raising money and taking donations to help residents and soldiers with food and clothes.
"He has no power left in him for emotion, he is just getting through every day."
Witnessing the tsunami of innocent civilians fleeing for their lives into neighbouring countries angers proud Glaswegian Pavel visas requirements for Ukrainians has not been waived in the UK.
"Scottish people are kind and have shown they want to help," Pavel said.
"I think the visa situation is terrible.
"The UK Government needs to change this. "
Pavel and his friend, Ali Forbes launched a JustGiving page for Scots to help support Serhii's fundraising efforts from afar.
It comes after Boris Johnson rejected Nicola Sturgeon’s proposals for Scotland to be a “super sponsor” of Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman ruled out the joint proposal from the Scottish and Welsh First Ministers to house 3,000 refugees in temporary accommodation before matching them to individual households.
Refugee charities and the First Minister fear the scheme requiring families to match themselves to refugees before they enter the UK will prove cumbersome and bureaucratic.
On Sunday, Sturgeon said the Scottish government stood ready to take 3,000 refugees immediately and match them to families later.
But ahead of details being announced in the Commons on Monday Downing Street made it clear the idea was a non-starter.
Russia began an invasion of Ukraine on February 24 in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that began in 2014.
It is the largest conventional military attack in Europe seen since World War II.
As of Sunday a total of 1,3000 Ukrainian soldiers alone had been killed in battle.
Head to Serhii's JustGiving page to donate.
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