A CITY councillor who went out to Ukraine to bring back his mother-in-law has described the “eerie” sound as he heard his first air raid siren.

Alistair McNair, a councillor for Patcham, flew out to Poland with his wife Tetiana, 41, to rescue his mother-in-law Tamara, 63, who is “not mobile” enough to make the trip by herself.

They embarked on a six day trip, starting from Monday, March 28 and returning on Sunday, April 3. It involved flying out to Poland, before heading to Lviv in West Ukraine before they got a 14-hour train to Kremenchuk in Central Ukraine, where Tamara was.

The 45-year-old managed to get away from the city just hours before missiles struck in the early hours of Saturday, April 2.

The Argus: From left, Tetiana, Tamara and two of their family membersFrom left, Tetiana, Tamara and two of their family members

He lived in Ukraine for almost a decade and said the country has “been through a lot” in the last 20 years, but the mood among people is “defiant and determined”.

During their brief spell in Lviv, Alistair described the first time he heard air raid sirens, which he ended up hearing multiple times in his one-day stay there.

He also saw machine gun-manned roadblocks and said trains use black out curtains to avoid being targeted by Russian attacks at night. Each city also has a curfew.

The Argus: A bombing near Lviv airport on March 19. Picture by Ismail Coakun/APA bombing near Lviv airport on March 19. Picture by Ismail Coakun/AP

He told The Argus: “My first air raid siren, I went for a walk in Lviv at around 9pm. It was my first experience of an air raid siren, it was quite eerie because it’s dark and you have this blaring air raid siren.

“It was interesting because people are probably used to them, they weren’t dashing for cover, people were walking and cars were going by.

“But I did get back to the hotel as quickly as I could. After a while you do get used to it.

The Argus: Alistair outside the opera house in LvivAlistair outside the opera house in Lviv (Image: Newsquest)

“In Kremenchuk, when you had air raid sirens in the middle of the day people weren’t dashing to their shelters. That might have changed now they have had a really big attack on Saturday.

“In Kyiv, people have been rushing to bomb shelters because they have faced quite a bombardment."

He said he will look to get more of his in-laws over to England if the situation gets worse in Kremenchuk.