Man with Nova Scotia connections regrets fleeing Ukraine

Jason Kolot was asleep at his home in Odesa, Ukraine, early last Thursday morning when the bed shook. 

He rolled over, thinking it was nothing, but moments later it happened again and then his sister-in-law called with news he never expected: Russia had invaded the country he'd called home for the last 14 years.

The tremors he felt were caused by explosions elsewhere in the city. 

A few hours later, Kolot was on a bus out of Ukraine by himself. It's a decision he now regrets.

"If I would have had time to think, I would have stayed and fought. Democracy is democracy, and what Putin is doing is not right," the 55-year-old told CBC Radio's Maritime Noon on Wednesday.

"I would gladly give my life for freedom."

Kolot's grandparents were Ukrainian, and his mother, stepdad and sister live in Halifax. He's currently in Saudi Arabia, where he works in the oil industry.

His wife, who is Ukrainian, is still in Odesa.  

Couple separated 

The couple said goodbye at a bus station late last week, before Kolot began the 24-hour ride to Warsaw, Poland. 

"She said she couldn't leave her country," said Kolot, who didn't want to use his wife's name to protect her safety. "And I said, 'I should stay here.' And she said, 'No, you have to go work.'"

Kolot is now among 874,000 people who've fled Ukraine in search of safety. On Wednesday, Russian forces intensified their attacks on major urban areas, including the capital, Kyiv, as well as the strategic port cities of Odesa and Mariupol in the south. 

After the couple realized Kolot could get a spot on a bus heading to Poland, he quickly packed a suitcase and headed for the bus station, located in a town on the outskirts of Odesa. 

"When we were leaving Odesa, there were a couple missile strikes again at the airport, and while we were waiting for the bus to come pick me up, we saw a couple of fighter jets flying maybe half a mile away," he said. 

His mother, Judy Smith-Lamothe, said she'd been urging her son to get out Ukraine for several weeks, but he didn't believe Russian President Vladimir Putin would really attack. 

The day Kolot left Odesa, all his mom knew was that he'd made it onto a bus heading for the border. She didn't hear from him for several hours after that.

"And of course, I was frantic all this time because I had no idea whether he was safe, if he would make it, if she would make it back to their home," she said. 

While she's relieved her son was able to make it safely out of Ukraine, Smith-Lamothe said she's also torn up knowing the couple was separated. 

"I had to encourage him to stay where he was, that this would be over in some way, at some point, and that he needed to be at work so he could finance helping his wife and her family if need be, if they chose to leave," she said.

Kolot is staying connected with his wife through text messages and phone calls. 

"Last night I talked to her and could hear gunshots in the background and she said, 'Call me later,'" Kolot said. "I called her back maybe an hour later to make sure she was all right." 

She tells him she doesn't want to talk about the dire news that the world is watching, and reassures him that things are quiet near their home.

For now, Kolot said she seems intent on staying in Ukraine, and he doesn't know if he'll be able to get back to her any time soon. 

"It really bothers me that I'm here and she's there."