A 19-year-old Irish medical student who is stranded in the Ukrainian city of Sumy has provided a fresh insight into her life in the war-torn country.
Racheal Diyaolu, from Carlow, has been confined to her student accommodation since the conflict began.
In a video recorded for RTÉ News, Racheal details the new realities of what day-to-day life is like for her and the other international students who remain in Sumy, some 200km from Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv.
"We try to wake up around the same time every day, around 7 or 8am. We get up and get dressed. Have a bite to eat. If you need groceries, you try to get them as quick as possible, and then get back.
"You just try to keep a routine going, so that we don't get bogged down by everything going on around us. And then you just spend the rest of the day sitting around and waiting. Hopefully, you don't have to go down to the bunker, but it does happen quite frequently, due to the threat of air strikes."
Racheal believes it would be "almost impossible" for her to leave Ukraine now.
"We are so far east - Sumy is just on the border with Russia. Due to the lack of public transport, we are kind of left here until something can be resolved, or the situation hopefully de-escalates."
Racheal, who was due to make a trip home to Ireland later this month, has been in contact with the Department of Foreign Affairs. She says she has been warned that "moving now isn't advisable".
Speaking to RTÉ 2fm yesterday, Racheal also explained how reports of African students being stopped from leaving Ukraine had left her "scared and helpless".
"You will see my skin colour before you see my Irish passport," she told Jennifer Zamparelli.
"There are lots of group chats circulating here about what is happening to international students at the borders. People who are getting turned away on the grounds of their nationality or skin colour.
"I could make a life-threatening journey, but it could all be for nothing, if I can't cross a border."
For now, Racheal believes she has little choice but to stick it out with her fellow international students and their new routine.
"We are trying to stay positive and we joke around with each other as much as we can. Of course we are all staying in contact with our families back home.
"We just hope the situation de-escalates soon enough, so we can go home. Back to our families, back safe and sound."
