'What they're doing is vile': Irishman and family continue their slow trek to Ukrainian border as Russian threat grows

Brendan Murphy, his Ukrainian wife Marina, as well as Marina’s 80-year-old mother, her daughter, and her three-year-old granddaughter, are trying to escape from Ukraine.

Irishman Brendan Murphy says he and his family are still four or five days away from crossing the border from Ukraine into Poland.

They have been among the tide of people trying to flee Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Thursday morning.

Nearly half a million people have already fled Ukraine, the UN's refugee agency has reported, while the European Union forecasts that more than 7m people could be displaced as a result of the conflict.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner from the war-torn country, Mr Murphy said he estimates at least two more days of walking to the border and then another three to cross.

“That’s if we're crossing in Poland," he said. "We could try to travel further to other border countries, Slovakia is supposed to be easier to cross into, but it's dangerous to travel further through Ukraine.” 

He said they hope to make it to a safe house which has been organised by Irish and Ukrainian people, and while they’re “getting there”, he says they are still “at risk”.

Mr Murphy said that at this point, every part of Ukraine is under attack consistently, and it is very hard to predict where Russian paratroopers could fall from the sky.

“They are now killing people who are fleeing," he said, recalling news reports of women and children being killed. 

They are killing, giving the bodies back to Ukrainian families and saying: ‘Take your trash, this is Russia now’,” he said.

“They're shooting at cars, attacking pharmacy trucks and vans delivering medical supplies. What they're doing is just vile."

Mr Murphy and his Ukrainian wife Marina, as well as Marina’s 80-year-old mother, her daughter, and her three-year-old granddaughter, fled Kyiv on Thursday morning when the invasion began.

He has criticised the Irish Government for not waiving visa requirements for Ukrainian citizens sooner so that his whole family could have flown to Ireland before the invasion cut off air travel.

Mr Murphy said his 80-year-old mother-in-law is now struggling with the arduous journey to the border.

Marina’s mother, she's 80, she was in the front seat of the car for 20 hours, crying in pain,” he said.

"It’s very hard, I can't put her through that again, and again. The more we wait, the more at risk we are of being killed by the Russians. So we have to move. But if I move and put her under distress, I'm going to kill her that way.

“There's a balance and a judgement to be made, and it's a difficult one because I don't want someone to die in the car of exhaustion, but equally I don’t want someone to die because the Russians shoot us. 

"It’s kind of a case of being stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. But we’re not dead yet, and we certainly have no plans [to be].”

As people navigate their way through unfamiliar towns and routes, Mr Murphy said local community Facebook groups are a crucial source of information on Russian movements.

A lot of the Facebook pages for towns and communities are now being used for information, so people will alert you to Russians on their street here, or that there’s a tank there, that kind of thing,” he said.

However, he said that online navigation tools like Google Maps cannot be relied upon, as Russians are constantly trying to manipulate them.

“They’re manipulating it to send you off into dangerous places, because they want to block the roads so that the Ukrainian army can’t get them,” he said.

Mr Murphy said that a lot of Russian soldiers are being killed or surrendering, but more seem to keep coming.

“Russians are coming through forests and to towns, and Ukrainian people are killing them, and a lot of them are surrendering," he said.

Ukraine is killing more and more Russians because Putin is sending more and more people to kill. He's just not stopping, and the only time he will stop is when he's no longer able to do anything.”

Mr Murphy said that sanctions to turn off the tap on the Russian economy are welcome, and “one job done”, but that now countries need to send people of military experience to work with and support the Ukrainian army.

“If people with military experience organise to come to fight, then obviously that will help a lot, to give rest and support to the Ukrainian army, to everyone,” he said.