A Ukrainian expat in the UK is desperately trying to help her mum find a safe passage out of the war-torn country - after spending days in a packed basement.
Olga Pyant’s home city of Chernihiv, in the northwest, is bordered by Russia and Belarus, and is one of the main routes invading forces are attempting to use to advance on the capital Kyiv.
To hold them off, as well as fierce ground fighting, the local military have planted bombs on the roads and blown up bridges, while train stations are all closed.
It means civilians cannot get out and are at the mercy of constant air raids, which have left much of the city in ruins.
Olga’s mum Irina Fadieieva has spent almost the entire seven-day conflict in a basement under her apartment building with around 100 other residents.
They are desperate for evacuation routes to be set up, similar to those being developed in the likes of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson, which are also under major threat from artillery fire.
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But, currently, the local government has said this is not possible, Olga said.
The 30-year-old, who works as a commercial marketing manager in London, speaks to her mum Irina, 51, almost every hour - and is trying to expose how isolated Chernihiv has become.
She hopes to get the attention of organisations like the Ukrainian Red Cross Society in a bid to speed up the creation of a humanitarian corridor to allow her mum and others to flee to neighbouring nations like Poland.
She said food supplies are sparse for those in the basement shelter.
And she fears her mum and many of the others only have money left for another couple of weeks - with banks and ATMs closed and so transfers blocked.
Olga told the Mirror: “Everyone is just so scared and panicked and stressed.
“It’s a very active, very hot zone at the moment. There is a warning for air attacks every couple of hours. There are lots of explosions every day.
“They [Russian military] don’t care, they are killing civilians, they are sending bombs to houses. Ninety-nine percent of people are hiding in the basement.
“The local guard says that they don’t advise anyone to leave Chernihiv because it’s dangerous.
“Nothing works and obviously no rail stations, no bus stations, no transport at all,” she added.
Olga has been joining various social media and chat groups, as well as speaking to friends back home to keep up to date.
She said missiles, presumably targeting the Chernihiv local government buildings, missed and destroyed a row of homes and a cinema in the city centre earlier this week.
Other attacks have seen a mental health hospital and a maternity hospital, and two kindergartens reduced to rubble, with desperate rescue efforts to save those trapped, explained Olga.
“It’s just horrible, I can’t describe how it hurts to see how they shoot and bomb the civilian places, the houses,” she continued.
“It’s against any war rules, they are also using illegal weapons, rockets.
“I believe in our army but it’s just so unfair to do that. I understand why they are doing it because they thought they’d occupy Kyiv in two days but it didn’t happen and they are getting so stressed right now.
“And they just want people to panic, so they are trying to destroy the civilian buildings and infrastructure.”
Irina has been living in the basement since last Thursday when the war started.
Yesterday she was able to step outside for the first time in five days, but everyone must return before 5pm each day or risk getting locked out due to the military curfew.
Olga said her mum and the dozens of others living in the shelter are sleeping on the floor and sharing one toilet and sink.
At one stage the water and power supply was knocked out for half a day, leaving Olga fearing she would struggle to get in touch with her mum.
Initially, all shops were closed and those in the basement had to ration out food, but now some supermarkets are opening for an hour a day.
A handful of people are sent out between strikes to get food for the whole group - but often all that is left is basic essentials, such as bread and water.
Being able to get out of the basement and go and visit a friend in a neighbouring building has proved valuable respite for Irina - but there is no getting away from the war.
Olga said: “Everyone is just talking about the situation and sometimes they are just drained from what is going on. This is their reality.”
A village neighbouring Chernihiv was completely destroyed after a missile hit it leaving the residents with “nowhere to hide”, she continued.
Referring to videos of hordes of desperate people stopping tanks and other military vehicles, she said many of these people have likely lost their homes and they are completely cut off from aid.
“They are obviously very brave but everything is destroyed for them, there is nothing they can do.”
Olga said she is still haunted by how her mum spoke to her in the first days of the invasion.
“They were the worst days, the first two, when you didn’t understand what was going on, when it was going to finish. It was suddenly full-scale war,” she said.
“She couldn’t control herself. She was panicked, didn’t know what to do, where to hide and was crying all the time.
“It felt like she had had a lot to drink but she was sober and it was the most horrible thing,” Olga continued.
Having begun to get used to the horrendous ordeal, Irina remains more calm but she and Olga will often share a cry over the phone.
“One day is okay and the next day feels like you don’t want to live in this hell anymore,” she said.
Irina has relatives in nearby Belarus - firm allies of Moscow - and Olga said her mum’s relationship with them has become “more difficult” as they are being exposed to Kremlin propaganda.
“They are very sceptical about the situation in Ukraine, even though we are sending them so many videos and explaining to them.
“We don’t get much support from them so I just said to my mum to not talk to them at the moment.”
Irina has a UK visa, having visited for Christmas, and Olga hopes to eventually find her passage to come and stay with her in London.
Olga said: “We will wait and we just need to give a really big exposure about the situation and hopefully a corridor can be opened for those women and children to get evacuated.”
