Ukraine soldier asks Scots: 'Rangers or Celtic?'

Two Scots who drove to eastern Europe to help evacuate Ukrainians were greeted by a soldier with the surprise opener: "Rangers or Celtic?".

The landscape gardeners, 55-year-old Joseph McCarthy and Gary Taylor, 45, have been moving Ukrainians across the border into Poland for the past week.

They decided on Friday 25 February that they wanted to help. Within hours they were on their way to eastern Europe.

They have vowed to keep going until they run out of money.

Joe, from Airth in Falkirk and Gary, from Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, are picking up nationals who want to leave the country but have no transport. They have taken people to Romania and Poland and from the south to the far west of the country.

It was on the return to Odessa, in the south of the country, that the men were stopped at a military checkpoint.

They were asked: "England?"

"No, Scotland" they replied.

The soldier laughed and asked them to show their documents.

He asked them why they were going to Odessa and seemed pleased when they said they were helping people.

The soldier made the men laugh when he then asked: "Rangers or Celtic?".

Gary then made the soldier laugh when he said: "I don't like football."

The two men work for Joe's company Ready2Rock. It was Joe who decided he couldn't just sit and watch the Russian invasion unfold on television.

From the road in Ukraine, he told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme: "After watching the news all day on Thursday I decided I needed to go and help people who are stuck or having to walk to the border because they have no transport."

Gary decided to go with him.

Joe said: "We left Scotland at 16:00 on Friday last week in a hire car. But we've been having problems getting the hire car back into Ukraine so I've been out and bought a people carrier this morning for 8,000 Euros so we can get more people in it now.

"We are just going back now to Ukraine, we have all the legal documents for this vehicle so we shouldn't have any problems at the border. We just want to help people."

They are aware of the danger they are putting themselves in, Ukraine's military believes that Russia is preparing to send amphibious landing vessels to capture Odessa, a city of a million people and a major seaport.

Joe added: "We were in Odessa the other night and we heard the rockets going off that Russia had fired into the city."

The landscapers have transported Ukrainians into Romania and also to Lviv in the west of Ukraine.

They took a mother and her severely disabled son to safety in Poland and organised an ambulance to meet them at the border.

Gary told Drivetime: "We just want to help as many people to safety as possible."

Joe said he had put £10,000 into the mission. When that runs out they will come home. They have also set up a fundraising page under the company name to take donations towards their efforts.

Joe said: "We are fine. We have a bit of banter. The pair of us are happy to keep going and get on with it."