Glasgow man stranded in Ukraine with wife and son

In an emotional interview with the BBC, a Scot describes what it is like living in Ukraine - and the difficulties he faces in trying to get his family safely home.

Sean Cusick recalls waking at 04:45 to the "sound of thunder" and the walls around him shaking.

The space industry consultant from Glasgow is in Kharkiv, Ukraine - about 24 miles (40km) from the eastern border - where Russian armed forces have launched air strikes on all surrounding airports.

Throughout Thursday morning, Sean has listened to hundreds of explosions, which he says keep getting closer.

He is currently stranded with his wife - a Ukrainian national - and his two-year-old son.

"I'm getting exceedingly more terrified," he told the BBC. "Last night between 20:00 and 04:00 there were no flights from Kharkiv airport, suggesting there was going to be an attack.

"There's reports of Russian tanks within the city limits now - it's hard to verify anything that's happening."

The couple have been attempting to leave Ukraine for the UK since November when they got married, but have been hit with several financial and bureaucratic hurdles.

Sean's wife had been living in China for 10 years previously, and her passport and ID were therefore invalid when she returned home - a problem that was further complicated by her name change.

Meanwhile Sean, who is living from pay cheque to pay cheque on freelance work, says they no longer have enough money for rent or food, and are relying on the support of family.

He said: "There's no way we can even travel without some financial support to get to Poland - we would hopefully be able to get to the UK from there.

"[My wife] was supposed to get her national ID today but obviously that's been put on the back-burner for now.

"We also have some dogs and a cat - they're part of our family, we don't want to leave them behind. They're just defenceless creatures that we have responsibility for."

Ukraine has declared a month-long state of emergency as Russia said it had carried out air strikes on Ukraine's military infrastructure and border guard units - but said it had not targeted populated areas.

Russian military vehicles are reported to have breached Ukraine's border in the north, south and east of the country, including from Belarus.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a "massive package of economic sanctions" would be targeted at the Russian economy over the "hideous" invasion.

The Scottish Parliament will debate a motion of solidarity with the Ukrainian people later on Thursday, and all party leaders voiced condemnation of Russia's actions prior to the weekly First Minister's Questions.

Sean, meanwhile, is focused on setting up a safe life for his family and has launched a crowdfunding page for travel expenses and childcare.

In the five years they have known each other, he and his wife have spent precious little time in each other's company.

They were separated for two years as she was unable to leave China during the Covid pandemic, but finally reunited in October - which was the first time Sean was able to meet his son.

He says it is difficult to find out what is happening in his area due to the spread of misinformation - and describes the UK Home Office as "unhelpful".

Local authorities have told them a siren will sound if there is imminent danger, letting them know when they can go to a bomb shelter.

Sean said: "Even though I'm scared witless, I'm not in any current danger that I'm aware of - but that can change in a matter of seconds."

He was forced to cut his interview with the BBC short and go indoors as he heard the sound of a nearby tank.