An NI man has said he will "stick it out" for as long as possible in Ukraine as Russia have begun to attack the country.
Newtownabbey man Geoff Dowey lives in Kyiv with his Ukrainian wife Tetiana and was woken up by air raid sirens on Friday morning.
The retired businessman said some of his frightened friends and neighbours have packed up and moved away.
He told Good Morning Ulster: "Overnight, I had a good sleep... It is a big city and you can be a bit detached from proceedings.
"We were woken up this morning from about 7 o'clock with air raid sirens and what not going off, so far, no signs of tanks or soldiers on the streets. It is hard to judge at this stage at this part of the city.
"Yesterday, the mood of the city changed dramatically, a lot of people fled, ran away. When I was walking around the city from about 11 o'clock, it was like a ghost town, streets empty, shops closed, it was eerie. It was unusual and the mood has changed to one of fear.
"I don't think people believed that the Russians would actually do it.
"It's been sitting there like a festering boil for eight years on the border with the conflict in the two disputed areas in the east, so it's hard to judge.
Mr Dowey added how he vows to stay put for as long as he can with Tetiana, who he calls Tanya.
"I am here with my wife and I am going to stay here with my wife, obviously."
He told BBC News NI: "So far for the people on the street in Kyiv, it's not actually affecting them that badly apart from the fear of what is going to happen. We don't know what is going to happen.
"But the answer is yes, I will stick it out for as long as I can with Tanya and see what happens. You can only play it by ear."
The Co Antrim man's wife, Tetiana, added: "We don't want to leave Kyiv, we hope all will be good here in our city.
"It is [an] absolutely crazy situation."
On Good Morning Ulster on Friday, Mr Dowey added: "You don't actually believe that such a situation can happen in a modern country."
When asked if he has a plan if the time comes when they have to leave, Geoff said: "It will be impulsive as we don't know when that level will be reached...
"I still hold out the hope that this will settle down."
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