"They might reach my grandma and grandad and kill them."
Those are the heartbreaking words of eight-year-old Mantas, a pupil at Sacred Heart RC Primary School in Westhoughton, Bolton.
He was one of the protesters who joined a demonstration outside Bolton Town Hall at the weekend waving flags and signs in a show of support for Ukraine.
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With his grandparents and wider family living in Lithuania, the youngster has more reason to the fear the war than most children living here.
And as he chatted about the delights of Pancake Day with school pals on Tuesday morning, war wasn't far from any of their minds.
Agreeing to share their worries over the conflict, Mantas joined 11-year-olds Lyla, Zara, Thomas and Barney to discuss their concerns about Russia's escalating attack on its neighbour.
If anything, it showed what a clear understanding they have of the conflict and how, like most of us, they are fearful of how far Putin will go.
"I don't really like when a war happens and it makes me feel upset and emotional," said Mantas.
Explaining how his parents are in England, but the rest of his family are in Lithuania, he added: "They are worrying because it's next to Ukraine and Russia could still have enough soldiers to fight Lithuania.
"I worry because Ukraine is a big country and it's very close to where my grandma and grandad live, next to the edge of Ukraine, so if they go past Ukraine, the soldiers, they might reach my grandma and grandad and kill them."
They are all too aware of the lack of reasoning behind the conflict and that the action is being dictated by Russian's President Vladimir Putin with little support from his people.
Zara said: "I think that it is terrible that Russia are trying to invade Ukraine and I don't think the reason they have for doing it is a good reason. I think Ukraine have done good and are trying to fight back, but I think that it's not just Russia, it's the leaders, not the people in Russia so it shouldn't be the people in Russia who are being punished for it.
"It's worrying there are children who might have to be trying to flee the country and trying to get into other countries just because Russia have an idea that they think it would be dangerous if Ukraine joined this organisation."
"I feel really sorry for the Ukranians because they just want to be part of an organisation and they're not allowed to because Russia are just saying 'no, it's too dangerous for us' and they're making it dangerous for them," said Thomas.
"I feel like Russia's got such a big population and so many weapons that the countries who are supporting Ukraine might even get attacked as well because they've got that many soldiers."
Barney added: "It's really aggravating to just think that Russia is taking over an innocent country.
"They just want to live on their own, but Russia just wants more power because they want to expand their country, which I think is just wrong because Ukraine just wants to be its own thing and live in liberty and freedom.
"I think it's a worry because if this fighting continues then it could reach to a serious stage where it could reach nuclear war even and it could get really really dangerous to countries far away from Ukraine because the fighting could escalate dramatically."
Lyla says she's worried about the number of people being caught up in the conflict - from both Ukraine and Russia.
"I'm worried because Russia have a lot of weapons and bombs and they're a very powerful country so they could really hurt people in Ukraine that haven't done anything - like the elderly people, the children and everyone who's there being hurt by the bombs," she said.
"Also I'm worried for the people in Russia because they're starting what could become a very serious war, but a lot of people in Russia don't actually want to start the war, it's mainly the government."
Above all, they want to help those that are now suffering as a result of Putin's actions.
"I think we can donate our things and give food and shelter to the Ukranian people because they'll be going through a really hard time now," said Lyla. "We could try and give them everything that we have without starting war over here as well."
Barney added: "We could fly emergency supplies and food and air drop them if they couldn't get out of the country."
Counting ourselves as the fortunate ones and praying those less fortunate is also important, said Zara.
"I think we could just remember how lucky we are that we're not in Ukraine right now and that we're not the ones being bombed and hurt," she said.
"But I think we can also pray for them and remember how much suffering they're going through before we say anything about our food and how safe we are."
To find out the local drop-off points to support those fleeing the war, see here.
