A man walks past a building damaged following a rocket attack in Kyiv. Photo / AP
Michael Foster is trying desperately to arrange a flight for his fiancée and her two children stuck in war-torn Ukraine to escape to Hungary so he can join her.
The 34-year-old from Mount Maunganui man said his fiancée, Anna Kaplina, her children and her parents all live in the city of Poltava.
Foster said he initially tried to book a flight from Dubai to Ukraine to be with Kaplina so they could get her and the children aged 4 and 12 years somewhere safe.
"But once Emirates cancelled flights into Ukraine all the other airlines did the same.
"It was devastating news when Anna phoned me last week, especially as I had tickets booked to join her in April after we had been separated for two years because of Covid."
Foster said he and Kaplina had even talked about possibly getting married during the visit.
"It's shocking, worrying, and pretty upsetting as I want to be by Anna's side to help her and the children but I can't just hop on a plane. It's been very hard to know what to do."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 with attacks by land, sea and air. It has been described as the largest military assault by one European state on another since World War II.
Foster said he was constantly looking online to try and book tickets for Kaplina and the children to fly to Hungary. He planned to join them if they can get to Budapest.
"We both think this the best thing to do at this point then we will decide our next moves from there," he said.
"Anna is from a large extended family in Ukraine, and half of her family live in Russia.
"Unfortunately, Anna's father is steadfast in his decision that [he] won't leave his little farm in Poltava, and her mother won't leave without her husband."
Foster said his 35-year-old fiancee, who was a professor of economics and trade and taught at a local university, now runs her own digital marketing company.
"Anna says she's not afraid, but she's really angry and upset, particularly if she has to leave her beloved cat behind," he said.
Church Of Christ Otumoetai pastor David Nelson said he and his wife, who undertook missionary work in Ukraine for six years and had lots of friends there, described the war as "terribly sad and tragic".
Nelson is the pastor at Otumoetai Church of Christ. He and his wife worked as
missionaries in Kharkiv from 2008 to 2014.
He said the latter part of their time in Ukraine was spent caring for refugees, many who escaped from Donetsk and Luhansk which were controlled by Russian-backed separatists.
The separatists - whose independence Moscow recognised this week before launching the invasion - currently control only parts of those provinces.
Kharkiv is a city of two million people and Ukraine forces are engaged in intensive battles with Russian troops to repel the attack.
Thousands of people are spending their nights in basements and shelters during the intense shelling.
Nelson said he had many friends in Kharkiv, including one who sent him an image of an unexploded Russian missile that landed on a pedestrian crossing not far from the apartment building he lived in.
"It's terribly sad and tragic but, unfortunately, some Russians have been convinced that this war is necessary after buying into Putin's propaganda machine," he said.
"It's caused a lot of confusion and fear, and there are also mixed emotions as Russians have relatives in Ukraine and vice versa.
"I think it's a David and Goliath situation especially given the size of Ukraine compared to Russia's might."
Thousands of Ukrainians were heading west and crossing the borders into Poland, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, Nelson said.
Yuriy Ackermann, who grew up in Ukraine and Tauranga, said he was among those who had Russian and Ukrainian relatives and described Putin's actions as "a tragedy".
Speaking from Dubai, Ackermann, who works as a writer and cyber security developer, said, like him, many Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Kiwis living abroad were "devastated" that Russia had launched a full-scale war against their homeland.
Watching the images of the missile explosions and the tanks moving into cities where his family, friends and business associates lived was "heartbreaking".
Ackermann said some refugees were living in his in-laws' hotel and business partners were spending their nights sheltering in underground car-parking buildings.
"The war Ukraine is no longer just a distant TV show that you can easily ignore.
"Putin started this war against all of us - our whānau, our friends, our neighbours and co-workers. People can no longer watch the news and think that this is not our problem.
"You can no longer read an Instagram and move on. Facebook comments of support are great but they do not help much. As our friend of mine who evacuated from Kyiv, says: 'Bad people kill, good people watch'.
"We need to act now. Together. United. I am calling on our team of five million to support Ukraine. Every penny counts."
Meanwhile, Ukraine-born woman Lyudmyla Shelton, who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times last week, is yet to hear from her 21-year-old son who was sent to the front line.
"He promised me he would stay alive," Shelton said. "He's never broken a promise before.
Ukraine's Interior Ministry says 352 civilians have been killed, including 14 children. It says an additional 1684 people, including 116 children, have been wounded. The ministry's statement does not give any information on casualties among Ukraine's armed forces.
"He's off Viber. I think he probably lost access to the internet," Shelton said, through her tears.
"I haven't heard anything from him but I would love to believe he is okay."
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