Russia invades Ukraine: New Zealander in Kyiv describes shelling, as Putin begins invasion

Truck drivers and residents seeking to leave the capital in a traffic jam in Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo / Getty Images

New Zealand's honorary consul to Ukraine Mark Wright said he can hear "deep booms" of war from his place in Kyiv.

In an interview with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in New Zealand, released to the media, Wright described how the encroaching war had eroded a previous sense of normalcy.

"You think things are quite normal on the street and then suddenly you'll hear these deep booms," Wright said.

"It is concerning that the type of shelling that's going on seems to be targeted at the strategic areas. We haven't lost any communications or power yet thank goodness," he said.

He said the situation in Ukraine was "eerie".

"You know what's going on, but you don't know what's going to happen next," he said.

He said the first blasts started at about 6am local time.

"Starting from about 6 o'clock this morning we could hear the first blasts as missiles came into the first places outside of Kyiv," he said.

He said as recently as this weekend, people had been going out for dinner and living normal lives in Kyiv.

He said people were now being advised to shelter in metro stations if official warnings were sounded.

Wright counted himself as lucky.

"We're outside the city. We're mobile," he said.

He called on people to write to their politicians on behalf of Ukraine.

"We don't live in that era any more, we shouldn't have to. This is a sad indictment of where we've come to.

Society as a whole needs to step up and condemn "this type of totalitarianism" he said.

"Who would have known that in 2022 we're sitting here with this type of action occurring ... with a country invading a sovereign state," he said.