Ukrainian woman living in Cornwall fears for family as Russian invasion escalates
Maryna says her brother is waiting to be called up to fight
A woman from Ukraine who lives in Cornwall has spoken out about how she fears for her family as the Russian invasion escalates.
The Ukrainian capital of Kyiv is preparing for an onslaught from Russian troops, with its mayor saying the city has entered a "defensive phase".
Tanks have been seen just a few miles from the centre and people have been told to stay at home.
There are concerns Moscow is planning to overthrow the government.
Maryna Halton has been living and working in St Austell for 20 years but comes from Ukraine, where her elderly parents still live.
She has spoken to us about how her brother is waiting to be called up to fight.
She said: "I am worried especially last night when they started to bomb, because a bomb exploded very close to my parents' village, there has been lots of damage done in the villages around and a school was destroyed.
"They are very anxious and very worried, my parents who are elderly have both packed clothing and medicines and have left it easy to access in case something happens to the house so they can go and hide in a cellar.
"Ukrainians basically have very strong states of mind at the moment, the fighting they're not giving up, all the community has got together and everyone is working as one person. It has just been amazing what they have been doing for over 24 hours now.
"I am worried about my brother, to be honest if I was in Ukraine at this moment, which I can't get there because there are no flights, I would be going on the front line myself. Absolutely everyone is feeling like that, absolutely everyone is participating as they can.
"When it comes to protecting our land we are all as one and we will go and fight for it. It's very hard to be so far and there isn't even a way to get there. In England there is a community of Ukrainians and all the guys who are in England at the moment are looking at ways to get to Ukraine because they want to fight."
Cornwall based disaster relief charity ShelterBox is monitoring the crisis in Ukraine.
They are worried that millions of people could end up needing emergency shelter.
Sanj Srikanthan, the chief executive, said: “We are deeply concerned about the unfolding and growing crisis in eastern Europe and the devastating impact it could have on people forced to flee their homes.
"We are already starting to see reports of people leaving major cities such as Kyiv and it’s difficult to predict how many millions may end up needing emergency shelter.
"The escalating military action we’re seeing is only going to exacerbate the significant harm caused by eight years of conflict between the separatist regions and the rest of Ukraine.
"It’s a very worrying time and a situation we are monitoring closely.”
ShelterBox works across the world providing emergency shelter and essential aid items to people internally displaced by disaster or conflict – including Syria, Ethiopia, and Yemen.