A group of Ukrainian men living in Ireland, who had travelled home to fight against the Russian invasion of their country, have joined local defence forces in Lutsk and Kyiv.
The men, who are not yet armed but expect to be called on to fight, said they are part of a second and third battle response team as the war progresses.
Other members of the group are organising military and medical supplies because the defence groups they have joined needs urgent supplies.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, one of the men, Stanislav, whose family remains in Co Louth, said the ten men who travelled from Ireland had split in to two groups when they crossed the Polish border with Ukraine.
Three men travelled to Lutsk while the others travelled by foot, train and private transport to Kyiv where they arrived yesterday at 5am.
Stanislev said the journey was a safe one and conditions - including food and water supplies - remain good in Kyiv.
"This is not like the Ukrainian army, it is a local guard unit and patrols the city with 24-hour surveillance," said Stanislav.
He explained the groups do not have guns or arms.
"We haven't received guns yet. The system they operate here is they have already deployed enough voluntary soldiers. We are a second choice unit, or a third choice unit. If the situation deteriorates then second choice units will contact some sort of duty," said Stanislav.
He added he did not feel vulnerable despite not being armed and said: "I'm not feeling really safe but it is my duty".
Pavlo, 23, is a plumber who was based in Cork and has travelled to his home town of Lutsk with his father.
Earlier this week, he told Morning Ireland that his mother had made attempts to stop him travelling and he ignored her telephone calls and text messages. He is now reunited with his mother.
"I don't know is she happy because she knows I was safe in Ireland," said Pavlo.
His role in Ukraine is to secure military and medical supplies and has organised travel to France soon with his father to collect supplies.
"We contacted local defence forces and spoke with them when we arrived and they said to us there are plenty of people fighting but there are no weapons," said Pavlo.
"There is no medical supplies, there is no armour, there is no helmets. They say if you have contacts to try to reach them and try to get help and supplies," he said.
He said he did not regret travelling to Ukraine to defend his country against the Russian invasion.
"I am happy I am here now. I will be much more happier if I can get something done and bring some help."
Commenting on the advance of Russia military convoy on the capital Kyiv, Pavlo said: "I understand this is a huge army but they travel by road and we have our army working on that.
"The bigger the army the easier to destroy them because we can see them coming. I think they won’t make it to Kyiv."
However, he added he did not want to think about what would happen if the Russian convoy reaches Kyiv.
