Hero Ukraine dad Ruslan Gladkiy has spoken of his “happiness and relief” that his wife and children are safely in Italy.
Ruslan, 35, was pictured on the front page of the Mirror on Monday kissing his nine-year-old son Hordiy goodbye at Lviv train station.
Despite being devastated at saying goodbye to his family Ruslan urged him to be brave and look after his mum.
Now Halyna, 37, Hordiy and his sister Emilia, four, have finally reached Italy.
They are staying with Halyna’s mum. “I’m so happy that they are safe,” Ruslan told the Mirror.
“I’m very relieved. Hopefully it won't be too long before I see them again. I will miss them."
Hordiy is a karate expert, a regional champion who has competed in national tournaments.
Ruslan from Kostopil, in the Rivne region, is preparing to fight.
He said: “The whole world is shocked.
“And our shock is over. We are used to hearing air alarms and sometimes we do not react to them.
“We have stopped recruiting volunteers because the reserve is overcrowded.
“Sometimes entire villages of unarmed civilians are stopped by columns of armed Russian tanks.
“We are not afraid of the enemy.”
The heartbreaking farewell on Monday captured the plight of the million-plus refugees who have now left Ukraine since the war began, many saying goodbye to loved ones who stayed behind to fight.
The UN refugee agency has warned that the Russian invasion could spark the “largest refugee crisis this century” with as many as 4 million people fleeing the country in the coming weeks and months.
Neighbouring countries including Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary have seen huge numbers of displaced civilians arriving on their borders cold, hungry and often with nowhere to go when they get there.
Charities have urged the UK to match the effort it made after the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia, as Ukrainians have been claiming Britain has made it "difficult" to legally enter.
