Chichester man in Ukraine vows to defend his home — "I will pick up a gun if necessary"

IT worker Chris Bainbridge, 37, has been living in Ukraine for the past seven years and has described the situation as 'really frightening' asking his fellow compatriots to keep the people of Ukraine in their thoughts.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week, starting a war that has shocked the world and has taken hundreds of lives.

After a terrifying week in the Eastern European country, Chris, who studied at Chichester College, told this newspaper he has no intention of returning to the UK.

He said: "I have made a life for myself here, I've got friends here, I've got loved ones here, I've bought a house here, I've got a car here and I am not prepared to leave that behind for some Russian to get hold of.

"If they were to come as far west as here, which I don't think they will, I am quite prepared to pick up a gun if necessary."

Chris said he now struggles to remember the day the war broke out describing it as 'a bit like a dream' adding: "We got woken up at five in the morning by fighter jets going over. That was the day the invasion started — we were in complete shock.

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"The night was quiet but the next morning our airport was hit by missiles just outside of the city here so we got woken up by blasts as six in the morning. The windows were shaking.

"We are not a very big city — we are about the size of Portsmouth so the airport is not that far out of the city so the blast was quite loud. The anxiety when that happens is very difficult to describe unless you're going through it."

For the past week, he has been staying in his home in Rivne, Western Ukraine, just over 200 miles from the country's capital Kyiv.

The city is closer to the Belarussian border, about 70 miles away, and with Belarus working with Russia on the invasion, missiles are frequently heard nearby.

"We are safe for now," he added, "We had a massive air raid alert about half an hour ago but it seems to have passed again now.

"They go off in the whole area because no one knows where the rocket is going to hit so they warn the whole area.

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Asked what his message would be to the people of Chichester, Chis said: "I'd like to say to keep the Ukrainian people in their thoughts. To remember that Ukraine is not only fighting for itself but is fighting for Europe's security as well because I think Putin has made it quite clear that he doesn't really have any intentions of stopping at Ukraine he wants to get rid of NATO completely.

"If people have a spare £10 or £20 if they could donate it to the Ukrainian army because there's a website where they can donate commission free."

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