New Brunswickers with family in Ukraine watching hour by hour

New Brunswickers with family in Ukraine are checking on their loved ones by the hour and watching intently, along with the rest of the world, as Russian military forces attack Kyiv and many other parts of the country.

Russia launched an invasion by land, air and sea on Thursday that President Vladimir Putin said was to "protect" people, including Russian citizens, from "genocide" a claim denounced by Canada and other western countries as absurd propaganda.

Vitaliy Stoyan, wholives in the Moncton area, said his mother, aunt and sister in Dnipro, in central Ukraine, woke to horrible noise when air raids started.

An air base near them was hit with ballistic missiles, he said.

His wife's sister and her family are in Kyiv.

They also woke up to the sound of missile strikes and hid in an improvised shelter in the basement of their apartment building with about 100 other people.

At one point they decided to go home to their beds, he said, but another blast nearly knocked them out of bed, and they rushed back to the shelter.

His sister in Dnipro works as an emergency room anesthesiologist. She hasn't been mobilized yet, he said, but might be.

The hospital where she works has cancelled all non-urgent surgeries, said Stoyan, to free space for the wounded.

Stoyan's brother-in-law in Kyiv has relatives in Russia.

They have no idea about the scale of the invasion, he said

They think it's just in the Donbasregion, the disputed area between southeastern Ukraine and Russia.

Natalia Haidash of Moncton calls, texts or video chats with her family every hour or two.

"It's getting closer to them and it's getting harder to endure it," she said.

Her mother and brother are in the Zaporizhia area, and there was a lot of military activity there overnight, she said.

They're getting ready to head to the basement if shelling starts. They've stockpiled some food.

Her father is in his native town closer to the south and the invasion.

She hopes he'll be safe there because, she said, Russian forces seem to be targeting larger cities.

Her husband's grandmother and other relatives are spread around Ukraine. His mother just arrived in Canada last week.

She is happy to be here, said Haidash, but worries for her mother and brothers. They call every hour or so.

All of Haidash's family members in Ukraine are staying put for now, she said, but they don't know how fast the war may arrive on their doorstep.

Moncton man stands behind family in Ukraine amid Russian invasion

3 years ago

Duration 2:41

Vitaliy Stoyan, who moved to Canada in 2003 but has family in Kyiv, says he's proud of them for standing up to invaders.

From afar, she is feeling "stressed out" and "exhausted."

"My fear is I go to sleep and something happens to them," she said.

Haidash isn't shocked that this is happening, but she is by how fast things have escalated.

"It's coming from all directions," said Haidash, adding the information war was going just as strong as the real one.

"We hoped there wouldn't be a full-scale invasion," she said, but "deep inside we knew it was inevitable."

Haidash would like to see more military and humanitarian support for Ukraine, and more severe sanctions against Russia, including exclusion from international organizations.

'Some of my family are fighting'

"When you live next to such a large and big and crazy neighbour," said Bogdan Goncharov, "you have to expect that they're not going to stop."

Goncharov moved to Saint John from Kyiv five years ago.

"Nobody knows what's going to happen," he said. "Some, like my mom and my grandma, they're simply trying to hide in the shelter."

"They are alive and safe at the moment."

People in Ukraine have been through a lot and are "stress resistant" and "very resilient," he said.

Goncharov is originally from southern Ukraine where the Cossacks are from, he noted. He lived in Kyiv for 20 years before coming to Canada. His wife's whole family is still in Kyiv.

"Some of my family are fighting," he said. "They're not panicking, but they're joining the military to fight."

He said some men he knows who are serving on the front lines told him "they intend to fight until the Russians are gone."

"Obviously, it's not going to be that easy," Goncharov said. "They're waiting for the western world to step in in any way they can."

"I would love to see our partners step in as early as possible."

Stoyan became emotional talking about how proud he is of Ukrainians for standing up to their invaders.

"They will never give up," he said, even if nuclear weapons are used against them something he believes is a certainty.

Stoyan said it breaks his heart to think of the lives of young Ukrainians lost in armed conflict with Russia since 2014.

Stoyan said he hopes Canada strengthensits military aid to Ukraine and gets ready to send humanitarian aid. He'd also like to see Russian assets frozen in Canada and elsewhere.