A video call to Ukraine brings Vladyslava Makushina to tears; she is grateful that her family is safe.
"When I can talk with them, I am always crying because when I see them, I miss them so much," the 22-year-old dancer says from her new home on the New South Wales south coast.
'People are dying every day'
Vladyslava has been living in Australia for about nine months, but her parents and grandmother remain in Ukraine.
They live in the south-east region of Zaporizhzhia, which has faced the brunt of the Russian onslaught in recent weeks.
"Russian soldiers occupy all small towns and cities surrounding my home town, so I know it is 80 per cent occupied," Vladyslava told The Drum.
Since the war began a year ago, 7,199 civilians have been killed in Ukraine, and more than 11,000 injured.
"Last week they bombed 17 times in one night — I can't imagine that," Vladyslava says.
"People are dying every day."
On the days Vladyslava can't get a hold of her parents, she has to remind herself to be calm.
Maybe they are asleep, she tells herself.
"When I see on the news that [Russia] has started bombing, and I try to call my mum and she's not answering, I can't do anything. I'm just shaking."
Mother and daughter escape Irpin amid rocket fire
A year ago, Tetiana and her daughter Dasha were sheltering in their bathroom from rocket fire in their hometown of Irpin, near the capital Kyiv.
"It was a hard decision — it was very dangerous to leave our house, but from another side it was dangerous to stay," Tetiana told The Drum.
"We couldn't believe our lovely Kyiv was being bombed with rockets."
Tetiana and Dasha fled to Poland with just a backpack each.
They are among the more than 8 million refugees who have fled Ukraine for neighbouring countries since the war began.
Months later, they were approved for a visa to come to Australia to be with Tetiana's sister, nephew and her mother.
Since February last year, the Australian government has granted 10,000 Ukrainian nationals temporary visas, but only about 5,000 Ukrainian nationals have arrived in Australia.
Tetiana and Dasha say they have been amazed by the support they have received since they landed.
"We found a lot of friends here and they helped us a lot — not only the Ukrainian community but Australians," Tetiana says.
Dasha has started year 11 on a scholarship, and her mother is doing part-time work and will commence a TAFE course soon.
Life as a Ukrainian refugee in Australia
Vladyslava is among three Ukrainian student performers from the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Performing and Circus Arts who were supported by the Australian circus community to come Down Under last year.
She has been studying dance and choreography for free at the Lee Academy in Tuggerah on the New South Wales central coast since she arrived.
The Drum first spoke with Vladyslava in June last year, only a couple of months after arriving in Australia.
She's since received a Temporary Humanitarian Concern Visa, also known as the 786 visa, which means she can access Medicare and financial assistance.
With a gruelling dance schedule, Vladyslava doesn't have time to work.
The $400 a fortnight she gets through the Special Benefit Centrelink payment goes to food and rent.
Vladyslava is considering her next steps and hopes to apply to stay in Australia permanently.
"I see my future here," she says.
"I want to continue dancing, I want to be here, I love this country, I love the people so much."
Holding onto hope as war rages on
Tetiana and Dasha worry about friends and relatives they have left behind.
Like Vladyslava, they constantly check their phones for updates.
"We are thinking about them every day because you don't know what is going to happen today or tomorrow," Dasha says.
As the war enters its second year, they hope the international community won't give up on them — and they certainly haven't given up on their soldiers.
"Our national spirit is really strong, and even in the war we became more united as Ukrainians," 16-year-old Dasha says.
"It's nice to have this moral support between us all."
Her mother agrees: "They are heroes because they are in Ukraine and they are defending my country, definitely they are heroes."
Vladyslava knows that staying in Australia is the right decision for now, but hopes to one day be reunited with her family.
"Of course I want to see all my family, all my friends, my home town, my Kyiv — it's my heart."
