Joe McCarthy

Two Scots friends helping to evacuate Ukrainian refugees have told how Russian soldiers held them At Gunpoint .

Joe Mccarthy , 55, and Gary Taylor , 45, have been moving people across The Border into Poland

The landscape gardeners got caught in a convoy of Russian troops as they headed for the north-eastern city of Sumy.

During a terrifying stand-off, they had supplies taken from them and the tyres on their truck shot out.

Joe, from Airth near Falkirk, told programme he felt like it was " an Open Field day for troops".

He Said : " The Last couple of days we've been held At Gunpoint by Russian troops, we've had our tyres shot out, we've had our truck ransacked, they've stolen my phone. "

Joe and Gary, from Bonnyrigg, Midlothian, were halted by The Soldiers as they headed to a refugee pick-up point.

Joe said: " Basically, we ended up on the tail of a Russian convoy. They let us get halfway down for some reason, I don't know why, And Then they wouldn't let us past.

" We were told to park at the side of The Road and wait for The Convoy to pass. And Then it was just like Open Field day for troops.

" As so many went past, some would jump out and get us out The Van , held us At Gunpoint and rummaged through The Van .

" They took what food we had, took what cigarettes we had, took my phone away. And Then they shot our tyres out, and me and Gaz were like, woah'. "

The Friends , who work together at Joe's company Ready2Rock, were eventually allowed to move on before being helped by local people.

Joe said: " We drove down The Road with two flat tyres. Although we did have a spare, it wasn't worth putting on.

" We did about 15 miles on flat tyres And Then some locals saw us, and put some second-hand tyres on The Car .

" We still managed to get to Sumy. as well as six Other People before the bombing started Last Night .

" So they were well away and well safe. "

The pair are still ferrying people to The Border and do not plan on returning to Scotland soon.

" We got around 300km (186 miles) away from Sumy and are now heading towards Uman, " Joe said.

" We will stay there for The Night then get back to The Border tomorrow. Me and Gaz will Stay Here as long as we can. "

He Said his wife was " really upset and crying" when they spoke on The Phone on Monday.

" It was her birthday actually, so I obviously didn't make it. But we had a chat and said we can get back into Uman and save these people and She Said , you just go for it. So that's what we'll do. "

Source of news: bbc.com