I fled horror in Ukraine on 50-mile bike ride from hell

A UKRAINIAN man has escaped the ‘new Mariupol’ by cycling 50 miles through a gauntlet of Russian shells and warplanes.

Arif Bagirov, 45, fled Severodonetsk after the apartment below him was hit by a shell which miraculously didn’t explode.

The Kremlin will gain control of Luhansk in the key Donbas region if Severodonetsk falls, and the city is bearing the full brunt of Vladimir Putin’s eastern onslaught.

The region’s governor says Putin has sent in an ‘insane’ number of troops and wants to ‘wipe it off the face of the Earth.’

Mr Bagirov pedalled for seven hours to flee the horrors, dodging incoming shells and cowering from

‘Explosions all around me’

Russian jets. The media manager eventually made it to Bakmut, from where he took a bus to the relative safety of Dnipro.

Mr Bagirov told the Daily Mail: ‘I have been in the saddle for 11 years, so 50 miles is nothing for me – but this was the craziest bike ride of my life.

‘Some roads were totally blown apart. I cycled right past exploded shells in the ground. The bike offers me far greater mobility – this would have been impossible in a car.’

Incredibly, Mr Bagirov waited to see where Russian shells landed – then cycled towards them.

‘I learnt from my experience in Severodonetsk that they don’t hit the same objective twice,’ he said.

‘I knew if they shelled a factory five minutes ago, they would not shell it again. I would watch where the shells would land and cycle there – it was the safest route. I could see explosions all around me, from shelling and from air strikes. I had to stop the bike and hide when enemy jets flew towards me. If I heard an outgoing shell I would get off and find cover until it had landed.’

Mr Bagirov’s wife and daughter escaped the city before the renewed onslaught began last week.

Russian forces have entered the nearby city of Lyman and it is feared they will use this as a foothold for a ground offensive into Severodonetsk. Mr Bagirov said: ‘The situation in Severodonetsk is desperate and gets worse with every day.

‘There is only one bridge left. If they blow that bridge it will be completely besieged.’

He added: ‘It is already like Mariupol. They are shelling it almost every hour of the day, so it is impossible to get the bodies out.’