A cross-party group of four Ukrainian MPs has addressed the Seanad.

It was the first time members of the Ukrainian parliament have addressed another parliament since the war began, the Cathaoirleach Mark Daly said.

Lesia Vasylenko said that 20% of Ukraine is now occupied by Russian forces, an area "almost twice the size of Ireland".

Alyona Shkrum said that 111 days of war have been like "one horrible nightmare", a "never-ending day", and recounted that a six-year-old boy was killed "in his bed" by a Russian missile last night.

She said that her grandmother, who is living in the war-zone, has refused to evacuate, but added that she remains safe.

Ms Shkrum said that it is incomprehensible that her experience now resembles tales of the Second World War which her grandmother had told her about as a girl.

Rostyslav Tistyk said that Russia is deliberately causing hunger, as it did "in the last century", and praised Ireland's support for his country.

Dmytro Natalukha said he was glad to be back in Ireland, which he had visited once before.

He said that his nation is proud, like Ireland, and is also stubborn, as evidenced by its resistance to the vastly larger Russian adversary.

"'Our revenge will be the laughter of our children', as Bobby Sands has put it", he said.

He also revealed that the Irish firm, Kingspan "will probably be the first enterprise to invest in Ukraine - €200 million - even before the war is over", news which was met with applause.

Yesterday, the delegation visited Ukrainian refugees at the Citywest Hotel.

Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News today, MP Lesia Vasylenko described the visit to Citywest as "heartbreaking".

She said she saw that women in the hotel canteen had a blank expression and she could tell that they were far away, as that is the pain of forced displacement.

She said that more people are returning to Ukraine and want to return. She said that the Ukrainian government is doing everything to maintain a strong connection with those abroad, as they want the children of Ukraine to have the choice to return home and live in a free democratic Ukraine.

The MPs are due to travel on to London where they are expected to meet senior British cabinet ministers.