Ukrainians in Darlington call for military support to fight Putin's Russian army

• Report by Kris Jepson

A Ukrainian engineer who lives and works in Darlington has called for the West to provide military assistance to his country as his relatives and friends prepare to defend the country against the Russian army.

Oleg Skalyga told ITV Tyne Tees now is the time for action from the West, "not meetings".

He said: "I really appreciate the West for these sanctions, but in my mind it should have been applied eight years ago when he (Putin) annexed Crimea.

So time now, counts in hours. So Putin just pushes his forces through the border every hour, and the Western world doesn't have any time for meetings."

He described how his family have been under fire for the past 48 hours and how they have a plan in place for fleeing to safer areas in Ukraine.

He said: "I've got my mum, I've got my sister. I've got other relatives.

"From their house to the nearest military base is about 600 meters and it was under attack yesterday and it was under attack this morning so they had to go and hide themselves in the basement."

Lena Rusa, also from Ukraine, said her friend in Kyiv has fled the capital city, but had to part with her husband.

She said: "My friends are fleeing and finding out one of my best friends was on the way to the western of Ukraine, with her two little girls.

"Finding out that her husband stayed and is signing up for the army because he wanted to defend."

She has been in constant contact with her mother, who lives in an apartment block in the city.

Although her mother is pro-Russian, she is now having to plan how to seek safety if troops come to her neighbourhood.

Lena added: "Putin told her that he was not going to bomb the population of Kyiv or any peaceful population, so she's just thinking that it's all going to be fine.

"But you never know… one missed missile and everything's gone. It's horrific. It's really, really scary. 

"She will probably stay where she is and hope for the best. And that's the worrying thought."

Karl Alexander, originally from Darlington, has been in Kyiv planning his wedding with his Ukrainian fiancée Eelena Dudchenko.

The couple have fled the capital city and are currently in Kramatorsk in the east of the country.

He told ITV News Tyne Tees he fears it will be difficult to return to the UK.

He said: "Obviously there's no flights, there's no trains, and all the busses are a patchy service and obviously Kramatorsk is sort of a thousand kilometres from the Polish border.

"So, you know, that's going to be a challenge for me to get there.

"And then even then, I don't know if I can fly from Poland because subsequent countries nearby are shut in their aerospace as well."