A Ukranian hospital worker who has made her home here in the UK has spoken of her anguish for her family’s safety as she looks on in horror at the brutality of the Russian invasion of her home country.

Inga Zamolynska, outpatient patient experience coordinator at the Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust, is most desperately concerned about her 73-year-old mum, Hanna.

Ms Zamolynska said: “I just want to get my mum here so I know she’s safe. While she visits me a lot she has always wanted to stay in Ukraine as it’s her home, and even now she is reluctant to leave. She doesn’t want to be a burden to anyone.

“I also have five cousins, one who had a baby six months ago. They’ve had to flee Lviv and go back to our home village, which is in the west of Ukraine and further from main roads. They will often hear sirens go off and have to hide in shelters.

“It’s so scary and while the village where my family is quiet for now, how long will that last? It breaks my heart as I just want everyone to be safe.”

Ms Zamolynska first came to the UK as a student in 2004, planning to work on a farm and raise some money for university, then go back to Ukraine. However, she met her partner, Christian, and settled here instead, and now has a daughter, 12, and four-year-old son.

“My partner is being very supportive, so are my colleagues and friends. My cousin knows boys who are going off the war and said they are in high spirits and so brave. The people in Ukraine are more united now than ever.”

She also has sympathy for Russian people who are not in support of this invasion, yet are being affected by sanctions, and arrested for protesting against the acts of their leader.

She is gathering much-needed supplies, such as clothes, toiletries and medicines, to send back home.

If anyone would like to help support those affected in Ukraine, you can donate online to the Disasters Emergency Committee’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, www.dec.org.uk