Glasgow delivery driver risked life to rescue friend's wife and baby from Ukraine
15.03.2022 - 16:37
/ dailyrecord.co.uk
A Glasgow delivery driver put his life on the line to rescue his friend's wife and newborn from the Romania-Ukraine border.
Pavel Ryazancev flew to Latvia before driving almost 2,500 miles in 31 hours to collect the stricken pair from their war-torn country on March 3.
The 33-year-old waded through swarms of 'terrified, crying and screaming' Ukrainians to find the woman and infant in temperatures plummeting to minus six degrees.
Chilling footage shared with the Daily Record shows cars queueing at the border while droves of people patiently wait for loved ones to cross to safety.
Pavel's selfless gesture was for his 'soulmate' friend Serhii Chaikovsky, forced to stay amid 'explosions getting closer every night' in his home city Kyiv.
Back at his parents' home in Latvia, and bound for Glasgow this week, shellshocked Pavel said the ordeal still feels like 'a bad dream'.
He told the Record: "The situation is terrifying, like a bad dream and I still haven't woken up.
"When I got to the border, women were crying for their husbands, screaming because they'd lost their children and relatives were upset because families had been split up in queues.
"Tens of thousands of people were crossing the border, but very slowly.
"The Romanian side, where I waited, seemed organised with volunteers from all over the world; Turkish, Afghan, British and more. Priests were helping as were lots of charity workers from many different countries.
"Through Whatsapp I found Sergii's wife and baby. She was very down and had tears in her eyes, but staying strong for her baby.
"Driving through the night was hard, but we had no other option I wanted to help."
Pavel met Segii through friends on a trip to Ukraine seven years ago and the pair have been