My friend was sent to war against Russia when we walked 43 miles to the Polish border

One MAN described how his Ukrainian friend was captured fighting against Russia as they walked 43 miles to the Polish border.

Manny Marotta, 25, told The Sun he saw men being pulled out of cars by the Ukrainian army in front of their children to join the army to fight in the East.

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Often working as a tour guide in an art museum, Manny, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniabeen in Ukraine for a week and a half working as an independent journalist when Russia invade Ukraine on Thursday.

Manny, who was traveling with London-born friend Sam Alexanderi, told The Sun: “We realized on Thursday morning that we needed to get out of Lviv. All trains and buses to Poland had stopped so the only way we could walk was by foot.

“It’s not just young people making this journey, we’ve seen frail elderly people carrying their possessions on the road. Some have pets and are struggling to walk.

“It got a lot worse as night fell. There were no street lights on the domestic roads and the conditions were extremely difficult.

“We just had to keep walking – there was no other choice.”

President Zelenskyy ordered on Thursday that all men between the ages of 18 and 60 be drafted into the army and Manny watched in horror as the army pulled fathers from their vehicles in a caravan in front of their terrified children. their fear.

“Basically, they’re sentinel units that are pulling every 18- to 60-year-old man away from his family,” he said.

“The boys were taken from their mothers as they tried to get to safety. It’s annoying to see.

“I have a friend named Max, a 24-year-old Ukrainian student who is scared and is walking with us to Poland. When the army arrived he was forced to join the army, he had no other choice.”

A video shot by Manny of Max at the time of the soldiers’ arrival shows the frightened young student being forced to leave the queue that had already formed on the Polish border.

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Max can be heard saying: “I was really hoping that I would be lucky to stay in line but I heard the man shouting let’s all go back, all Ukrainians. They said I needed to get off the line. ”

When Manny finally arrived at the border on Thursday night, after departing at 7:15 a.m., he was part of a “human heart” of about 2,000 people trying to flee.

“Polish authorities let 10 people through every 20 minutes, so you can imagine how long it takes,” he said. It took about eight hours to cross that last 500 meters.

“It was pitch black with thousands of people crammed in horrible conditions with no first aid, no water, no food and no toilet.

“On the contrary, when we arrive in Poland, we are greeted with tea and donuts. Then we were taken by bus to Przemyal, where we are now. ”

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