Ukrainian business owners face a highly uncertain future as they flee their homes in a desperate search for safety

• Small-business owners across Ukraine have fled their homes and are traveling to safer areas.
• Serhiy, a jeweler, told Insider he wants to go back to his city and help the army in any way he can.

Ukrainian small-business owners from all sectors are facing financial ruin after being forced to flee their homes.

Vlad Builvol, the CEO of a natural wine store, told Insider he was fleeing the capital, Kyiv after Russian troops marched into the country on Thursday morning.

Hundreds of Ukrainians have escaped to neighboring countries like Poland or Moldova. The new war caused traffic jams as people tried to leave Kyiv.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has put forward false narratives to justify his invasion of Ukraine. He announced in a broadcast speech as troops began their operation that he wanted to "demilitarize" the neighboring country and free it from hostages.

At the time of writing, Builvol was driving to the west of Ukraine with his partner Oleksandra Borodina. Both talked to Insider via a messaging app to describe their journey. Borodina said: "The traffic is terrible, the gas is not always available. So you have to look for other stations."

Before the invasion occurred, the couple had been planning to host their SuperNatural wine festival in Kyiv on Saturday.

Borodina, who was struggling to find a phone signal, told Insider: "We are hoping to arrive at the mountains at night. A trip that usually takes 10 hours now takes 23 hours."

Taras Ivanyshyn, the owner of a small construction business in a town near Kyiv, told Insider on Friday: "My father is transferring my sister and her kids to the West, while I stayed near Kyiv with my mom."

He added: "The situation here in Irpin is critical. Russian forces are concentrating nearby to get to Kyiv tonight."

Ivanyshyn told Insider that it would be a long night but that his family were armed with rifles for self-defense purposes and would be spending the night in their basement. "We will not surrender," he said.

While the human cost of any conflict is immeasurable, there will be other global consequences such as foods prices rising higher, gas prices rocketing, as it has for several months now, and even higher inflation, affecting interest rates on mortgages and credit cards.

Serhiy, who asked Insider to not use his last name, lives in the city of Kharkiv and owns a jewelry business. He said that he has had to stop working. "I took my family to central Ukraine," he added.

While most families are trying to flee, Serhiy said he wants to return to his city and help the army in any way possible. "My daughter is still in Kyiv, but my wife and son are with me in Kropyvnytskyi, a city in central Ukraine on the Inhul river," he said.

Sharing his thoughts on the invasion, he said: "We consider ourselves to be a European civilization, and the Russians do not give us such rights. This is a civilizational conflict."

A Ukrainian presidential advisor called on the West to swiftly take action to punish Russia, Insider's Natalie Musumeci reported on Thursday. The US, UK, and EU have sanctioned Russia over its aggression in Ukraine, and have warned of more sanctions to come.

Ukrainian lawmakers and analysts suggested that financial sanctions may not be enough to discourage Putin, however.