Attempts to rescue an Irish medical student from Sumy in Ukraine have failed.
Racheal Siyaolu is one of approximately 1,700 international students trapped in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy, as shelling from Russian troops continued after calls for humanitarian corridors were ignored.
Christine Diyaolu, Racheal's sister, said in a statement on social media that the planned evacuation for civilians in Sumy was abandoned after attacks on the city failed to stop.
The 19-year-old from Carlow was due to be picked up this morning along with others waiting to leave Ukraine, but the vehicle never made it.
The rescue attempt undertaken by two British volunteers was foiled after their vehicle came under fire from Russian troops.
A Tiktok account that has been providing updates on the failed mission said the volunteers were "raided" by the Russian military and had their front tyres shot out.
It also said one of the men had their phone seized before they were forced to turn back to safety.
A recent update stated that they were safe and that locals were assisting them with securing new tyres. However, it is not yet known if they will attempt to re-enter Sumy.
Christiana said trying to get her sister home safely has been a "nightmare" and pleaded for assistance from Government ministers to help her get Racheal home safely.
She tweeted: "Sumy is proving to be an awful place to get to. It's supposedly surrounded by Russian military. I don't know how much more devastation we can take. Please, the humanitarian cease fire/corridor for evacuation should extend to Sumy. These students need help."
"I wouldn't wish this nightmare on my worst enemy, honest to God. There's still hundreds of students trapped in Sumy, three of them (Irish). It's been 10 days.. no improvements?" Christiana added.
Racheal travelled to Ukraine in November to pursue her studies in medicine after completing her Leaving Cert.
Her family have continuously appealed to the Irish Government to help them bring Racheal home.
Christiana previously said her family are "scared and devastated" that Racheal has not yet left Ukraine.
Racheal previously described how the city has undergone a series of power cuts due to bombing and said it has been difficult to get in contact with her family at home due to bad network coverage.
She told the Irish Independent: "All we're hearing so far is that there are talks going on about potentially opening up a humanitarian corridor to allow for international students to leave the country."
She added: "We're holding onto hope that that actually comes to pass because there's just so many people here that just want to get out and get back to their respective countries."
