Ukraine: British teacher evacuates colleagues in school buson February 26, 2022 at 11:53 am

A British teacher is trying to evacuate colleagues from Ukraine in a school bus.

Paul Hodgson, originally from Washington, Tyne and Wear but now living in the capital Kyiv with his fiancée, rescued a group on Friday and was preparing to return for more.

Mr Hodgson, who teaches at Kyiv’s British International School, said most pupils and parents had left the city.

However, he said many of his colleagues remained trapped there.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live, Mr Hodgson said the route into and out of Kyiv was “quite risky” and he did not know if he would be able to get back through roadblocks.

He said he was working out a strategy for safely bringing staff to his current base in Cherkasy, to the east.

“Even in Cherkasy there’s reports of gunfire and aerial bombardment,” he said.

“I haven’t heard much of it but I know it’s on the outskirts.

“Even here we’re only going to be safe for so long so we have to consider our next steps.”

The Ukrainian military said it had fought off several Russian attacks on Kyiv, while fighting continues near several other cities.

Nearly 200 Ukrainians, including three children, have been killed since Russia invaded, the country’s Health Minister Viktor Lyashko said.

Mr Hodgson, who teaches A-Level mathematics, said he had seen a lot of military transport going towards Kyiv, where many colleagues remained, as he left on Friday.

“So it’s whether or not we can go and get them, whether we can get there and whether they can actually get to where we’re going to pick them up from, this is the big question,” he said.

Mr Hodgson, who has also studied and taught in Greater Manchester, said he eventually planned to get as far west as he could and possibly return to the UK, but said his home was now Ukraine.

“This is my home – Nadia’s home – it’s her son’s home, this is somewhere we want to come back to, this is where we belong,” he said.

“Whether that’s going to be possible, I don’t know.”

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