"It was a complete shift in reality" - Ukrainian woman living in Cornwall talks of journey to border
Mariia's window was open when the first explosions sounded the start of the war
"I wanted to sleep so badly but you are not really allowed to sleep, there are so many sleepless nights like that".
Those were the words from Mariia Dachkovska, a Ukrainian woman now living in Cornwall, as she recalled what it was like as travelled across Ukraine to reach the border.
Mariia lived in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine when the war broke out, hearing the first sign of war from her window, which she left open, as she went to fall asleep at night.
She said: "I was emotionally going through a lot and it partially affected my sleep. The night there was explosions, I was having difficulties sleeping.
"Around the time it happened it was around 5am as I was falling asleep, so it sounded like they were happening loudly in my sleep.
"There were around five or six of them and I nearly fell out of my bed".
At the point the first noises loudly boomed from outside her bedroom, Mariia told us she suspected the war had begun.
"After a while, we decided to move, to go to my fathers place and stay there for a while. I don't sound too broken when I'm telling about it because of how much we're used to it. We realised the war was happening with so many people, most people understood".
"The first 24 hours it was happening every single hour. You don't know what exactly they'll be bombing, where exactly it'll drop. I wanted to sleep so badly but you weren't really allowed to sleep and there were so many sleepless nights like that, you are just so exhausted you experience the highest level of stress.
"You don't want to feel lucky, because you know it's happening to someone else."
Her father and brother, still currently in Ukraine, were left behind as she travelled.
Mariia continued: "Actually, crossing the border was one of the worst things I had to experience throughout the war. There were massive lines, there was a separate queue for cars and people travelling by foot".
Unsure of where she would end up and find refuge, she continued to wait.
"There were thousands of people there. We were still moving really slowly. For those who were on foot, it was 98% of those were women and children, women with really small babies."
"It was really inhumane".
"I stood probably for 9 hours, you were moving but almost not moving. It was so cold, I was never so cold in my life. I started to put everything I had in my suitcase on me, I found some blankets I put it on me.
"There were volunteers who were bringing food, bringing tea".
On the border, she said many people were there to help especially once they got through.
"I'd already had a few sleepless nights. I felt like my legs were swelling, my hands start to swell and it scared me because I didn't know what that is. We managed to go to a hospital not far from us, there was already a curfew. I found out it was an extreme stress reaction.
"It felt a little bit scary, it was such a major shift from reality".
"When you live in the peaceful reality for so long, you do not realise how much of a temporary thing it can be"
Now, living in a flat in Cornwall, Mariia told us she's likely to stay for a while, before she plans to move to London eventually for work.
Mariia said: "To come here I needed to go through Romania, Italy, Ireland and then I came to the UK. I had a partner in the UK. We decided to help me try to apply for this visa. There was no timeframe decided, again I didn't know how it was going to be. I now have three years to live and work in the UK.
"When I came to Cornwall I felt it was so peaceful and quiet that it felt wrong. If you go through something tough, if you are in a tough area, it feels much easier because you don't feel so conflicted with the environment.
"Even though there is danger, massive danger. Once I came, it was very difficult to adjust. I did adjust, of course, but it was very difficult to accept how peaceful it is".
"Britain was the first one to supply us with weapons. I cannot describe how grateful Ukrainians are for that. They were the very first to show their black and white view on this.
"I'm glad it's the UK but my heart does belong to Ukraine"
Mariia was born in Rivne in Ukraine, but originally I come from a small town in Rivne region called Zarichne, where she was raised.
She said she was used to conflict but the shock of the war and moving away from home still hit:
"In a way I feel like too many people in the country had to go through the very hard things in the past, we had revolutions and lots of trauma and lots of inherited trauma, so people in Ukraine are tough.
"When there were claims of war, people partially understood there might eventually be war".
She told us her plan is to return to Ukraine as soon as it's safe to do so.
To continue supporting people in Ukraine, you can donate to Mariia's chosen charity UAE Aid.