Portuguese football manager Paulo Fonseca and his family have managed to escape Kyiv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It was previously reported the former Shakhtar Donetsk manager had been stranded in Kyiv with his wife and son, after their first attempted escape of war-torn Kyiv failed after their flight was abandoned.
Since the invasion, airports have been destroyed following missile strikes and roads were log-jammed with Ukrainians trying to escape to nearby Poland with Fonseca holed up in a Kyiv hotel.
Fonseca, who last managed Roma before his departure in June 2021, is married to Ukrainian Katerina Ostroushko and they had a son together in 2019.
In an Instagram post on Saturday, Katerina confirmed that she and her family were now safe.
Italian publication Gazzetta dello Sport, reported that Fonseca and his managed to leave Kyiv thanks to a mission led by the Portuguese embassy.
He was taken to Romania, through Moldova, in a 15-seater minivan alongside other Portuguese nationals including Edgar Cardoso and Filipe Sousa who both work for Shakhtar Donetsk.
Russian troops entered Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv overnight with fierce fighting breaking out after president Vladimir Putin was said to be 'raging' at his stalled invasion.
After arriving in Moldova, they will recover at their hotel before flying to Portugal on the first available flight.
Fonseca's wife in her Instagram post said: 'Our friends from all over the world. You are absolutely incredible!
'Thank you for your great support, your prayers and help in our darkest days.
'Thanks to you, my family and I are safe now. I will forever remember your kindness.
'Every helping hand, every word, I'm absolutely crushed. My heart is broken. So much pain and fear in two terrible days. Crime war I hate you, Ukraine I love you.'
Fonseca and his family had planned an exit route from Kyiv via a 10am flight on Thursday only for all flights to be suspended.
'I woke up at five in the morning with five explosions in a row,' he told Jornal de Noticias.
'I had a flight scheduled for today, but now it is impossible to leave here, not least because the airports are already destroyed and the airspace has been closed.
'This is the worst day of my life. Now it's time to wait and be lucky. And pray that a bomb doesn't fall on us.'
On Thursday afternoon, Fonseca posted a short video to his social media accounts thanking fans for their support and saying that he and his wife 'believe peace will eventually prevail'.
In the clip filmed on a balcony in Kiev, he said: 'Hello everyone. I am in Kiev. My family and I are going through a very tough time in the middle of an unacceptable war. However, we believe peace will eventually prevail and we must remain strong.
'I've receive messages from many people in Portugal, Italy and all around the world, and I want to thank everyone for the care that you have shown my family and I at this time. Hope to see all of you soon.'
On Sunday morning, Ukranian government ministers confirmed that they had managed to keep control of the capital city of Kyiv for the third night running
Russia though did strike the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine in Kyiv, which stores nuclear waste.
The facility's radiation detector was also destroyed - although a preliminary inspection suggests there is no immediate danger to locals.
The first confirmed death toll has also emerged with the UN saying that at least 240 Ukrainian citizens have been killed.