A Ukrainian woman in New Zealand has spent all morning on the phone to her family at home, who are sheltering underground as shockwaves rattle the bunker.
Inga Tokarenko with her grandmother in Ukraine several years ago. Photo: Supplied
Inga Tokarenko is a student in Christchurch and has been in New Zealand for seven years but she has never felt further away from home.
Read more about the Russia-Ukraine crisis:
- Follow all the latest developments with RNZ's live blog
- Timeline of Ukraine's turbulent history since independence in 1991
- How Ukraine's armed forces shape up against Russia's
- NZ announces bans on Russia in response to Ukraine invasion
Her aunty and grandmother were woken on Thursday morning when the first bombs dropped - the sheer force shaking their windows.
Russian forces invaded Ukraine by land, air and sea on Thursday in the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II.
Tokarenko's family is based in Kharkiv, just near the Russian border.
When she last spoke to her aunty and grandmother, they were huddled in the bomb shelter below their apartment.
"They are terrified, they are in shock, and they don't understand why it is happening.
"My grandmother is from Russia, and she basically said, 'This is my own country attacking me, I am your people, just as I am Ukrainian people.'"
As the invasion began, people ran around trying to get money from the banks.
"My aunty said there is so many people just running and buying everything, trying to get as much food as they can because they know it's going to be for a long time."
Inga Tokarenko's 21-year-old cousin and younger sister are still out in the village with plans to flee toward Poland.
She says this is made more difficult and dangerous because he is wanted by the army to fight for the Ukraine.
Poland has opened up the border to Ukrainians as refugees.
Other people RNZ have spoken to say there are huge traffic jams as people head out towards that border.
Tokarenko said a train left Kharkiv to Poland yesterday with 100 people on board, but all of the buses heading out are being shot at.
She is hopeful they will be able to find a way there safely away from the Russian troops and from there Tokarenko plans to send them money while searching for a way to bring them to New Zealand.
"I've started looking for a refugee lawyer and visited centres to see if they can help me," she said.
"I kind of knew it was coming, but I didn't have a realisation that it was real... my family is very much in denial and were hoping it wasn't real."
