A Ukrainian woman has made the journey from her Northumberland home to Poland to help bring her family to safety as they flee from the Russian invasion.
Nataliya Tkachuk is currently in Rzeszow, Poland with her mum and in-laws awaiting a visa so they can return home with her to Prudhoe. It will be the end of a terrifying period for Nataliya after the airport near their hometown was bombed in the opening days of the war.
Speaking of the moment she was reunited with her mum Mariia, and parents-in-law Nataliya and Tom, she said: "It was amazing. One of the best moments in my life.
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"The most important thing is we've done everything we need to do for the visas. It's being processed now.
"My family live in a small town that has an airport and it was bombed on the first day of the war. I was crying all day - I was afraid to ring them because I didn't know if they were okay.
"I hope that they will get visas soon and then they will come home to Prudhoe. I can't wait to go home."
Nataliya moved to Prudhoe with her husband, Roman, 16 years ago. After travelling to Poland on Wednesday, she was reunited with her family after they had waited at the border for more than 10 hours.
It is hoped the family will be issued with visas in the coming days. Staff agreed to fast-track the application due to the age of Nataliya's mum and in-laws, who are all aged between 75 and 81.
The family have faced difficulties. There are very few rooms available in Rzeszow, with those still up for grabs charging up to £600 per night.
But Nataliya is just happy her family are now safe. Like many Ukrainians, she issued a plea to the Governments of the world to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine - something NATO has refused to do thus far for fear of escalating the conflict further.
She said: "As Ukrainians, the best thing the rest of the world could do is close the skies. Our army is doing the best they can.
"They're very brave and they're fighting - they can win with a little help. It's the message we tried to share - close our skies."
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