MONTAGUE, Mass. (WWLP) – A father from Millers Falls is in the process of reuniting with his ten-year-old daughter who was in Ukraine until just Monday morning.

David Korpiewski said he felt a sense of relief when he found out his daughter Mary made it across the border, especially when he said they ran into Russian forces along the way.

“It was very critical that we get Mary out of that location as quickly as possible,” said David. His daughter Mary has lived with her mother Iryna in Ukraine but when the war broke out, Iryna was at a conference in Vienna. Getting back to Ukraine, David said, was a challenge for her.

“Iryna actually went into the war zone on a train to go to Dnipro to go get our daughter and you know take her back,” said David.

Dnipro in Ukraine is more than 650 miles from the Poland border where David said Russian forces were moving in from three sides. He said even as his daughter and Iryna rode on the train to escape, they ran into some close calls.

“They were actually in that city as the rockets were hitting it so they heard explosions and saw smoke,” said David.

Thankfully they made it to Poland safe. David is meeting them in Warsaw. He had his own challenges, with an expired passport. He said he had to reach out to Senator Markey’s office to expedite the process.

Mary has safely made it to Poland. Her father said her first stop had to be a KFC.

David said adapting could be challenging for Mary once she arrives here in Millers Falls, especially given what she’s seen in Ukraine.

“I lost 8 pounds in the last week literally, so just worrying and trying to figure it out and try to make stuff happen. So I’ll probably break down I imagine,” said David.

David said the plan is to go to the embassy Tuesday to get Mary a U.S. passport. Her mother won’t be able to join them because David said she is not up for refugee status in the states and could only get a tourism visa.