Good Friday is a special day for many – but for one family it will always be especially significant, as it will forever mark the day they were reunited in New Zealand after fleeing from their war-torn home in Ukraine.

Their incredible story aired as part of Newstalk ZB’s Good Friday broadcast.

Married couple Tania and Andrew and their children had lived in a town 35km away from Ukraine’s capital Kyiv – roughly the same distance between Upper Hutt and Wellington.

Andrew had flown to Auckland years ago, with the intention Tania and her children would join him here six months later. They didn’t know at that time that visa issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually Russia’s invasion would prevent them seeing each other for four years.

For Tania on the first day of the war, without Andrew, it was terrifying. Russian helicopters flew overhead, and she remembers being acutely aware that she could be killed at any moment.

Knowing they had to leave right away, they packed what possessions they could into backpacks, and tied a white bedsheet to the bonnet of their car to indicate they were peaceful civilians just passing through. They just had to drive and hope for the best.

Tania recounts one moment, as she sat in her car before beginning the journey away from their home, apologising to her children because it could be the end.

Their journey was tumultuous. Sometimes they would get stuck in one place for a few days amid heavy shelling. At one point, an 18-year-old they ran into invited them to shelter in his basement during an attack.

They also had to negotiate their way through many Russian checkpoints. Many of the Russian soldiers stationed at the roadblocks were in their teens, Tania remembers, and were overwhelmed by the stresses of war.

She describes what it was like driving west away from home and towards her aunt in Lviv.

“320km of travel in one breath. We ate almost nothing – one chocolate bar for four people and some water. The second day passed with no food, but we didn’t care. We rushed happily and were inspired by the peaceful road to the cherished goal.”

Arriving in Lviv indicated they’d made it to safety: “I was happy after that. I understood that we were alive.”

Andrew was able to be in contact with some people from their old town, and was shocked to learn of some of what had been going on since Tania had fled.

“When Russian military arrived in the area… they just told locals that if you don’t touch us, because it’s a political game, we won’t touch you. Just stay aside,” he said.

“Of course, all around it was a battlefield. They shot from the street, but they didn’t touch locals.

“Our neighbour who had a house near the battlefield said the Russian commander got an order to shoot everyone in the area. He disobeyed, so he was killed.”

Mangere Bridge church St James Anglican, where Andrew had been attending for a few years, paid for Tania and her children to fly to New Zealand once they’d made it to Lviv.

It was the first time the family had been together in four years.

“We were happy. We couldn’t believe we were together… We are a big family. It was such an emotional day.”

Andrew says the reunion “was like a gift from the Lord”.