Maxim Kuzma skates down a quiet street backing onto sugar cane fields in north Queensland, like any other 12-year-old boy might do.
But a month ago, he was fleeing his home country to the sound of sirens.
"Sirens aren't just because of bombing, it can be air alarms, flying jets, anything in the air," Maxim explains in Russian.
Speaking almost no English, his mum Yuliia Kuzma translates as they sit at the kitchen table of their Proserpine home.
After months of sleepless nights, worry and planning, Ms Kuzma flew to Ukraine last month to help her adopted son flee the country and travel to Australia.
It was the first time they'd seen each other in about four years.
When asked was it was like to be reunited again, Maxim repeats one word in Russian.
Separated a world away
Yuliia Kuzma travelled back to Ukraine from her new home in Australia in 2018 to begin the process of adopting her nephew, Maxim.
She said her sister struggled with addiction and wanted a better life for her son.
Her sister passed away the following year, and the adoption was finalised in 2020.
But due to COVID-19 border restrictions, followed immediately by the outbreak of war, Ms Kuzma was unable to travel to bring Maxim home.
"I wasn't with him, I've been far away … I completely understand just phone calls and video calls doesn't cover all of the care," she said.
Maxim had been living with her close friend, who wasn't in a position to be able to leave Ukraine.
'Traumatised'
After waiting on documents and approvals, Ms Kuzma flew to Poland, crossed the Ukrainian border and returned to Australia with Maxim within a week.
She said it was wonderful to have him home safe, but the family had a lot of work ahead to help Maxim settle into Australian life.
"We can see in his psychology some of the ways he's reacting … he's been affected."
Ms Kuzma said they got approval late last week from Queensland Education to enrol Maxim, who is in year 7, at the local high school.
It will be his first day of school today.
They said plans were already in place to help him transition.
"We had a lovely, amazing interview with our high school in Proserpine," Ms Kuzma said.
"He doesn't speak English but its still okay, they're accepting of him.
"They already have methods of how they'll work with him and communicate."
Yuliia Kuzma's seven-year-old twins were ecstatic to be reunited with Maxim, but having a language barrier within their own family has been challenging.
"It's been too much attention for Maxim," Ms Kuzma said.
"They're trying to play and communicate, but they don't quite understand."
'Completed my destiny'
Ms Kuzma said she had received a lot of support from the local community, which helped with uniform, clothes and furniture.
She said it had been an overwhelming couple of months of feeling like she was "running behind a train trying to catch up", but that she felt "wonderful" to have her son safe with her.
"I feel like I've completed my destiny in one way. Now it's a new road, to provide him a better life, a good life, a successful life," she said.
"We're already talking about what he wants to do in the future, who he wants to be."
