Ukrainian midfielder Yevhen Shakhov fetches wife, baby from border

AEK Athens' Ukrainian midfielder Yevhen Shakhov arrived back in Greece on Friday after a gruelling 60-hour road trip to fetch his wife, new-born daughter and mother-in-law at the Ukraine-Romanian border.

They had fled their home in Kyiv to escape the Russian invasion.

"I found my wife, her mother and my child on the Romanian border.

"Then we went to Bucharest, then Sofia and from there here.

"We have been on the road for two and a half days," the 31-year-old told reporters at the northern Greek border crossing of Promachonas.

The Ukraine international said he had seen "many vehicles from Ukraine and people trying to save their lives with small children leaving the country. It's sad".

"My father, my mother and my brother stayed behind in Kyiv," he added.

His wife Alona spoke about her relief at being able to give birth to their daughter Amelia last week in a Kyiv hospital after praying "to God not to give birth in the shelter".

"The real heroes of our time. Heroes are not those who fight, but those who give birth to life. I love you very much," Shakhov posted on Instagram on hearing the news last week.