As he heard the news that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine, all terrified Gary Smith could think of was his beloved wife, living just moments away from the under-attack border.
In the early hours of this morning, Moscow launched a military offensive against its neighbours, with Ukraine declaring martial law and vowing to drive out the invaders.
Caught up in the conflict are millions of oridinary Ukrainans, among them Gary's wife Helen Tserkovna.
Go here for the very latest news updates from the Russia Ukraine war
Ashington -born Gary met university lecturer Helen, who was born in Russia but has lived in Ukraine for 30 years, in 2012, and the couple married two-and-a-half years ago.
They'd been living together in Kharkiv, in the East of the county close to the Russian border, but after being furloughed during the pandemic Gary, 53, moved to Howdon, Wallsend for better-paying work.
He'd begun saving money for a visa and immigration costs for Helen, 55, hoping they'd soon be able to make a life together in the North East.
But as the invasion began Gary was left worrying about when he'll be able to see his wife again.
Gary said: "It's awful, a horrible, horrible feeling. I've never experienced anything like it before.
"I was there over Christmas, we had a wonderful time together, we visited Kyiv and then came back to Kharkiv, and even then you knew Putin was building up troops in the border, he was testing the water, but people were just going about their normal lives, doing day-to-day stuff.
"I came back on January 17 and I've been following and following the news ever since, I'm worried about her safety.
"She's just 30 minutes away from Russia - last night there were shells going off, she's heard shelling this morning. I didn't sleep last night, I just knew something was going to kick off. I called her at 3am as soon as I heard the news, she told me she had heard explosions.
"Helen says to me 'Gary, don't worry', but I'm more worried than her, I think because she is trying to be strong for me. I feel helpless, I can't do anything, she's there and I'm here.
"She was meant to be coming over for my birthday in May, but that's not going to happen now. I am still in contact with her, but how long for? That's what I'm worried about [that communications may be cut off]. If I still lived over there I'd be there with her - in some ways I regret coming home, but you can't predict what's going to happen and I came back to make a life for both of us here."
Gary accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who today promised a package of "massive sanctions" against Russia, of not doing enough in the face of President Putin's aggression, and said that the international community needed to offer military aid to Ukraine.
He said: "The sanctions are basically doing nothing. NATO needs to go in and help them out, but what annoys me is that if Ukraine was an oil-rich country, if they had more resources, then I think they would have gone in to help, but because they don't it's not going to happen, in my opinion.
"I would have wanted sanctions to be swift, to come earlier, to stop them from exchanging with pounds and dollars, but we didn't do that - perhaps that might have made Putin listen, but it didn't happen."
The 53-year-old, who was living in Ukraine in 2014 when conflict sparked, and saw Russian separatists groups marching through Kharkiv, said that in order to be effective, sanctions would have had to come much sooner.
For Gary, watching news of the invasion, which Ukrainian officials have said has already killed as many as 40 people, has left him anxious not just for his beloved wife, but for the country he's come to love.
"It's a beautiful place, Kharkiv is a beautiful city. When I was furloughed I used to use walk around it for hours," he said.
"The people are so nice too, they're friendly, they would do anything within reason to help you."
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