"Everything is terrible. My mom broke the hip and this is implicated for us. Children [have spent] four days in the cellar. Yesterday we were without electricity and water. Today, thank God, we have connections and water."
That is the heart-breaking text message sent from a woman in Ukraine to her friend Gerrie Bayley in Prestatyn.
And what makes this text message even more difficult to read for Gerrie is the feeling that those youngsters in the cellar may as well be her own children - such is the close bond she feels with them.
Read more: Latest from Ukraine as talks with Russia begin
Gerrie is one of dozens of generous people across Wales who have opened their hearts and homes every summer for the last 20 years to welcome children from Ukraine and Belarus for month-long respite trips.
Aimed at supporting youngsters affected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline charity was set up to help children from Ukraine and neighbouring Belarus improve their physical health and mental wellbeing. The charity estimates that a four-week stay in the UK can have a positive effect on the children's immune systems for a full two years.
Members of the Welsh branches of Chernobyl Children's Lifeline have built extraordinary relationships with young people from Ukraine and their families - and are deeply concerned about how they're faring right now.
Many of the youngsters the Welsh families have hosted - whom many refer to as their own children - have been forced to hide in basements and cellars, with little light and even less food.
Whilst Chernobyl Children's Charity has confirmed that the youngsters and their families who have visited Wales in previous years are currently safe, they've also expressed their concerns for the stark environment in which the families find themselves.
When news of Russia's invasion of Ukraine broke last week, dozens of host families from the Welsh branches of the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline charity couldn't believe what they were hearing.
They felt that the scenes they were seeing on television were straight out of a horror film, and were affecting their own families.
Chair of the North Wales Link branch of Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, Gerrie Bayley said she and other host families are "really worried" about the youngsters in Ukraine and can't stop contacting each other trying to get the latest updates from the families stuck in amongst the conflict.
She said receiving a text message from one of the Ukrainian families her branch has hosted really drew attention to how devastating the situation really is.
"It's heartbreaking. I just got this [text message]: Gerrie, everything is terrible. My mom broke the hip and this is implicated for us. Children [have spent] four days in the cellar. Yesterday we were without electricity and water. Today, thank God, we have connections and water," she said.
Gerrie added: "They are our family. Some of my little ones who came when they were 10 or 11, local people are supporting them through university!"
Gerrie set up the branch in 2004 and was initially able to help just two children, Anastasia and Kristina.
She initially intended to lead the group for one year, but after hosting the girls and seeing how much they benefited from their stay, Geri decided to continue to support the girls and other Ukrainian youngsters and grow the north Wales host group.
Over the years, she's built a strong network of caring, supportive families across the area who have bent over backwards to look after children from Ukraine each summer.
"I started the North Wales Coast Link in 2004 with just two children. North Wales is so supportive and we have been able to bring a group of at least 12 children each summer since then," she said. "Everyone in the community helps. From the host families who take the children for a month, to local clubs, shops who give them days out, clothes and treats.
"It is a huge community effort and everyone is missing the children!"
"My first two, Anastasia and Kristina, are married and I am their Welsh Granny! We always say these two little ones waltzed into our homes and into our hearts and changed our lives forever. I am retired now but never worked harder in my life!
"I have a great team around me who help and an amazing group of host families from Prestatyn to Penmaenmawr," she added.
Chernobyl Children's Lifeline was set up in 1992 by Victor Mizzi OBE to support the children and families from Ukraine and Belarus who were affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.
The radioactive fallout from the explosion caused extreme health issues for those living near the plant - whilst some 150,000 square kilometres of land in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia was contaminated, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
"Far higher than normal" rates of thyroid cancer in children have been documented in this area, whilst even the apparently healthiest of children living in parts of Ukraine have a severely compromised immune system.
With this in mind, Mr Mizzi launched his charity to arrange for children in Ukraine and Belarus to have the opportunity to travel to the UK for a one-month trip designed to improve their health and wellbeing.
Not only have the stays greatly improved the children's mental health, the charity reports, but a one-month stay in the UK has been proven to improve the children's health for almost two years, director of the charity Dennis Vystavkin told WalesOnline.
'I'm in a wet, cold cellar hugging my kids. I don't know what I've done wrong in life'
Director of Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, Dennis Vystavkin said he and other charity staff have been keeping in contact with the families that have visited the UK "as much as we can" - but the situation is stark.
He said: "Our families are safe, we're getting most of our news from short messages from the families there. One of the families said that her mother had stepped outside to get water from the well and she'd been terrified as a missile was flying above her head.
"Then we had a message today [Monday] from a lady with two kids and she said, 'I'm in a wet, cold cellar hugging my kids. I don't know what I've done wrong in life.'"
"These are simple, farming families," he added. "Similar to people here in the UK, [ordinary people] similar to farming families in north Wales, for example. There was enough challenges already [with the fallout from Chernobyl and the Coronavirus pandemic]."
"But people in the UK have really taken to helping affected people, people from Wales - especially from north Wales - have been arranging for PPE to be sent to Ukraine during the pandemic, people from the North Wales Coast Link have been bending over backwards to help.
"Many of the families we help are from rural areas, we send teams there twice a year to deliver projects, deliver aid and bring medicine and equipment.
"They help at schools, kindergarten and they see them [the Ukrainian families they visit] as their own families.
"They've been ripping their hair out with news of what's happening."
Mr Vystavkin said he's in contact with the families the charity has supported on a daily basis and said the UK host families are worried about all their Ukrainian friends.
"The groups have helped many kids from Ukraine, they've made friends, they've cared for them, they've looked after their health. Some of the people from the North Wales Coast Link have visited them in Ukraine, they've seen those places now laying in ashes - it's like seeing their own home.
"Yesterday we had a message that said, 'Hooray, first time in four days I've been able to get a loaf of bread.' There's been no bread, no flour and no salt."
Over the years, numerous families, schools and orphanages have benefited from the hard work of volunteers visiting the country to bring supplies and medicine - and even build indoor toilets in schools which have had none.
"Many of those people who are sitting in cellars, shelters and houses are saying however horrible their life is, one of the few things they have is hope. It's knowing that there are such good people and caring people like their friends in north Wales, in Wales and in Britain," Mr Vystavkin added.
"All of our volunteers are worried sick, but they [the families in Ukraine] say that 'knowing that there's love and care that is out there is giving us hope'."
Mr Vystavkin is urging people to support the families affected by the invasion of Ukraine by donating to Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, if they can. Funds will be used to buy items that the families specifically need, such as food or medical supplies.
He's also urging people to "spread the word" about what is happening in Ukraine.
Chernobyl Children's Lifeline has branches around the UK, including two very active branches in Wales, and a third which ran for 12 years.
Chernobyl Children's Lifeline North Pembrokeshire ran from 2004 to 2016 and hosted a group of children from Ukraine every summer, whilst the Mid Glamorgan Link group has hosted children from Belarus each year since 1998, and the North Wales Link branch has supported children from Ukraine and Belarus every year since 2004.
Volunteers at the Mid Glamorgan Link branch said they're in contact with the families, schools and orphanages of youngsters they've hosted, and all are safe at the moment.
You can follow Chernobyl Children's Lifeline Charity on Facebook here.
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