CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. — A Crystal River man and his wife are among those who fled Ukraine for Poland, as Russian began its attack.

Jeff Patton and Lena Skrynchenko were married earlier this month after what they call a whirlwind romance.

“We both feel like God had been preparing each of us to be together for the moment,” Patton said.

What You Need To Know

The couple met online and Jeff traveled to Ukraine. After the wedding, Patton said he planned to return to Florida to finish the immigration paperwork, so Skrynchenko and her son could eventually follow.

But just one week later, chaos erupted and the family fled Kyiv for the border.

“On Thursday morning we awoke, saw the news, heard the shootings and the decision was made,” Skrynchenko said.

They joined thousands upon thousands of people on the roadways leaving out of the city. Patton said at one point they stopped for gas and were almost hit by enemy fire.

“We walked in and just saw everyone around us running to the cars.  The lady on the gas station was screaming to run,” Patton said. “And we could hear mortar shells or fire from a tank and you could just repeatedly hear that going off in the background.”

It took nearly 24 hours to get to the border crossing where Patton said Ukrainian men, unaware the order had been given for them to stay in the country, were forced to say goodbye to their families.

“The car in front of us at the Ukrainian border, the mother had a boy that was 16 or 17 years old. They had him out, put him on a bus,” Patton said. “She was wailing and screaming and begging and pleading to the point where she couldn’t hardly stand to look.”

Patton and his family are now staying in Warsaw in an apartment they managed to book online. But he said they now face a new challenge: hours of waiting in line at the U.S. embassy, in hopes of getting Skrynchenko and her son refugee status to come to the United States.

“I went through a situation where I know an army was advancing behind me and I didn’t have any fear,” Patton said. “And today, I’ve been to the embassy twice and I’m almost sick at how ill prepared they are for what’s coming across the border.”

This could be the largest refugee crisis facing Europe this Century, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

We reached out to Congressman Daniel Webster, who represents Florida’s 11th District, as well as Senator Marco Rubio’s Office, to see if they can offer any help.  Spokespersons for both said they are looking into the situation.