A Tauranga-based immigration adviser is calling for special visas for Ukrainians desperate to leave their war-torn nation.
Russian-born Iryna Stewart has received many calls from people asking for her advice, including a terrified Ukrainian-born seaman on board a ship who had lived in decimated Mariupol.
The seaman feared his house was "no longer standing" and desperately wants to come to New Zealand and had asked her to help him obtain a visa.
She said she had spoken to relatives and friends across Ukraine and Russia, including her second cousin who lived near Melitopol and turned 65 on the day of the invasion.
"It makes me feel so sad. I couldn't believe Russia could attack Ukraine at first. It was not something I imagined would ever happen despite Putin's earlier threats.
"It's absolutely terrible. I can only imagine how people are feeling suffering these appalling atrocities, especially those having to leave some of their relatives behind."
Stewart said she supported any urgent measures by New Zealand to help displaced Ukrainians and some Ukrainian nationals living here.
Last week, Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said Ukrainian nationals living in New Zealand on a visa due to expire by the end of the year would be given an "automatic 12-month extension".
Ukrainians offshore with valid New Zealand visas can return to the country "without needing a border exception". Faafoi also confirmed that the Government was considering further border exceptions for wider family members of New Zealand-based Ukrainians.
A spokesman for the minister said further options were being worked on by officials and the Minister expected to receive advice this week.
Stewart has worked as a licensed immigration adviser since 2013 and helped lots of foreign nationals obtain entry visas, including highly-educated Russians and Ukrainians.
She was also a professional translator and interpreter and until Covid hit our shores conducted guided tours for Russian-speaking tourists during our summer months.
Stewart has Ukrainian citizenship and a Ukrainian passport and had lived in Crimea when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and came to New Zealand in 2002.
She wanted to see our government introduce a "special visa" to enable terrified relatives of NZ-based Ukrainians to come here so they can be supported by their whanau.
She said she was sure Ukrainians living in New Zealand would be happy to sponsor their relative in providing accommodation and financial support.
And maybe even help some of them to find jobs, Stewart said.
"For instance, one of my friends has two daughters in New Zealand but her mother aged in her 70s is all alone in Ukraine. If granted a visa she could get all the support she needs."
Stewart said she and her Kiwi-born husband Alexander Stewart were "absolutely shocked" by Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, and seeing footage of the colossal destruction was "heartbreaking".
"My heart goes to all Ukrainian people and Russians innocently caught up in this terrible war. I'm also thinking about Russian mothers losing their sons during the fierce fighting."
Stewart said the majority of Russians do not support Putin's decision to attack Ukraine
Two Russian friends, one in Moscow and the other in Crimea, told her that many who used to support the invasion after buying into Putin's claim "nothing bad would happen to civilians", had now changed their minds and were "very apologetic".
Stewart said her niece, and her niece's husband, son and mother-in-law, who lived in Jaworzno, near Krakow in Poland, were sharing their three-bedroom apartment with a Ukrainian family of five who fled Kryvi Rih in central Ukraine.
Her niece had driven to the Ukraine border three times, a round trip of 700km to pick up family groups and helped them with somewhere to stay and with food supplies, she said.
"My niece is an amazing woman. She also works full-time as a logistics manager of a big international trucking company. Her boss is very supportive and allows her to take the day off work to do this."
Stewart said last week two Kiwis knowing her Ukrainian connections offered some funds to help support the humanitarian efforts such as this one, and she has also had many other "heartwarming" messages of support.
Stewart backed New Zealand's Russian Sanctions law as long as the "right people" were targeted.
As of last week, more than two million people had fled Ukraine and thousands of civilians were reportedly killed.
On March 9, the Russian Sanctions bill was unanimously passed into law which enables New Zealand to freeze assets of those associated with the invasion. Sanctions could also apply to trade, travel and financial institutions such as Russian banks.