Ukrainians living in Dunedin are united in their shock and anger at Russia’s invasion of their homeland.
Olha Viazenko said if she was in Ukraine she would be fighting for her country.
In the early hours of Thursday last week missiles rained down on cities and military targets.
"Nearly all Ukrainians woke up because of the explosions, and my mum as well, and everybody."
"The first shelling was to all big cities, airports, military bases."
In Dunedin, Ms Viazenko said she began seeing messages from friends on social media.
"My friends were writing that ‘it's awful, we heard explosions, they are bombing us, we don't know what to do with, we do not know where to run, children are crying’."
She called her mother who was in Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, and was woken at 4am by explosions and saw fire.
"The Ukrainian army is fighting now trying to keep territories, but it's really hard to do because it was unexpected," Ms Viazenko
"Nobody really believed that it could be possible in the 21st century."
Ms Viazenko said she had not been getting much sleep as she was worried for friends and family in Ukraine.
"I have friends all over Ukraine."
Some people were trying to leave the big cities, but Ms Viazenko said most of her friends would stay and fight.
"They will fight for their freedom, for sovereignty, for their rights, they are not going to leave the country or leave the cities."
Her mother and her mother-in-law in Kyiv had been sheltering in the Kyiv Metro underground stations.
"It's really deep, so people can hide there. They were built after the Second World War as shelters. So people can use them as shelters."
But now her mother was trying to leave by train, taking only her passport and her dog.
"I'm angry. So it's a military invasion of my country. And I cannot accept this. And if I were in Ukraine, I would definitely fight. Definitely."
Instead she would do what she could from Dunedin, which was to fight against disinformation.
"So this is what I can do for my country."
Maksym Kryvonos said Ukraine was a very culturally diverse country.
When Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered a Special Military Operation in Ukraine, he called the Ukrainian Government a fascist junta, Mr Kryvonos said.
"He called the Ukrainian president or Ukrainian regime, a Nazi regime, which is absurd, because the Ukrainian President [Volodymyr Zelenskyy] is a Russian-speaking Jew."
In Ukraine, there were many different nationalities that lived together and they all considered Ukraine their home.
"It’s very diverse, and it's a country in which a lot of different nationalities and a lot of different cultures and people coexist, and have done so for centuries."
"You ask what are some of the lies that Russia tells us about Ukraine?
"The biggest Russian narrative and the biggest lies [are] that they call the Ukrainian regime a fascist junta.
"They try to play the ethnicity card, which is absolutely ridiculous."
Last week up to 100 people attended a protest and this Saturday at noon another protest in The Octagon would take place.
