An 83-year-old grandmother has been reunited with her family in the UK after escaping the war in Ukraine by herself in a lorry.
Natalia Anufriieva travelled alone, hitching a ride to Budapest in a lorry before catching a flight from there to Manchester.
Her family in the UK feared they might never see her again after Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed a full scale invasion on Ukraine last month.
Natalia's granddaughter, Tanya Mulesa described the emotional moment they were reunited.
"It was amazing to see gran and to give her a hug, knowing that it's over and we were together," she told BBC North West Tonight.
"It's like we ran a very emotional marathon for a long time."
Mrs Anufriieva said she was grateful to those who had been "cheering for her during her entire journey" but added "Ukraine is my home and I hope I can return one day."
Like many determined and brave Ukrainian citizens, Tanya said her grandmother had initially refused to leave her home of Rivne in the North West of the country.
She said: "She was adamant she wanted to stay, fight, help, volunteer and weave the safety net.
"It was only when things started escalating and she started hearing the news that indeed it was a threat that she finally said 'yes I will come'," she added.
But Tanya claimed it was not an easy task to secure a visa to bring her grandmother to the UK and expressed her concern for others facing similar struggles.
She said: "A lot of the people who have fled hot zones do not have any of their household bills, any documents that the government is requiring right now to upload a refugee visa.
"They didn't have the time. Many of them are now in Eastern Europe with just a passport in their hands."
Tanya described the Russian invasion as "utterly heartbreaking", adding her grandmother "never saw it coming".
"She was born into the Second World War so she saw the Nazi soldiers. She saw the horrors of sirens," she said.
"One of them actually put a gun to her face when she was four years old and all these memories have sprang up during this crisis now.
"It would've been awful if she ended up her life as it started."
