Ukrainians living in Australia react to Russia invasion on Kyiv

The Port Macquarie resident moved to Australia four years ago with her husband and daughter.

Her family lives west of Ukraine, while most of her friends are in Kyiv, which is currently encircled by Russian missile and helicopter attacks.

After spending the majority of her adult like in Kyiv, seeing the heavy missile attacks the area is currently under makes her emotional.

"I think people are underestimating this," she said.

'My family in Ukraine is reacting differently. Some are buying food and guns, some are staying at home and monitoring, some are getting ready to go to the military."

With such uncertainty she worries about what will come next.

"I have heard there is a bit of panic there but Ukraine is not going to give up.

"There is a question of who is next. Taiwan? That is much closer to Australia."

Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine by land, air and sea, the biggest attack by one state against another in Europe since World War II.

Putin declared in a televised address that he had ordered "a special military operation" to protect people, including Russian citizens who had been subjected to "genocide" in Ukraine.

Dr Roger Motyka writes books based on Ukrainians living in Newcastle.

He said there is a large Ukrainian community in the Hunter Region who settled here after World War II. Many have family and friends in Ukraine. For them, the news is concerning.

"They are worried because of what could happen to their family members. They are here but their family and relatives are there, their circle of friends are still there and it is very, very worrying, even more so in what has been happening in the last week or so," he said.

For those families here the situation can be difficult, but Dr Motyka said all Australians should be concerned.

"It is affecting our population, it is affecting Australians and we are not as far away as we think we are. We are not as safe as we think we are. It is a danger to not only Europe but the world."

Michael Bazaley is a phycologist with a Ukrainian background. He said for many, including his parents who left Ukraine years ago because of the Soviet occupation, the current events can be traumatic.

"A lot of people escaped to come to Australia for a safe haven when the Soviets took over after World War II and persecuted family members of people who left and now many of them who are still alive are being retraumatised because they are watching their country, which was free for the last 30 years, be reoccupied with the threat of total invasion," he said.

"The community is now having to come to terms with PTSD. You have one trauma that you think you survived for most of your life now and then the trauma comes back."

Newcastle Law School Associate Professor Dr Amy Maguire said there are multiple levels of impact that the attacks on Ukraine will have on Australia.

"One impact is for Ukrainian people and people of Ukrainian descent in Australia. It's terrifying for those people to be confronted with the nature of this attack because it's quite different from Russia's prior incursions into Ukraine territory," she said.

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"In terms of impact on Australia, there is a real challenge now for the Australian Government in terms of how we choose to respond. And so far we have announced for example, that we'll be imposing certain economic sanctions on Russia and as the conflict grows, which this one is likely to, Australia may be drawn further in than it has been so far."

Australia will implement a second tranche of sanctions after Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday.

Targeted sanctions announced earlier on members of Russia's Security Council are in force, which prohibits them from travelling into the country and freezes assets.

Dr Maguire expects Australia will respond in more ways.

"It's important for the Australian community to remain observant of what our government chooses to do because of course, once military resources are committed and potentially Australian troops are mobilized, we are directly part of the conflict."

She believes the conflict could have bigger impacts on Australia than previously thought of.

"If we commit as wholeheartedly as we have in the past to for example, US strategic objectives then there is a chance that could further inflame our relations with China, which as of today, has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is effectively offering some degree of tacit support," she said.

"One of the reasons why that is such a risk is because potential success of Russia's efforts at the moment to gain territory and sovereignty over areas that are part of another sovereign country could influence China's future decision making around for example, Taiwan. And Australia is much more exposed politically, economically and militarily to any conflict in the Asia Pacific."

Several Hunter residents with links to Ukraine who spoke to the Herald declined to comment publicly, fearing repercussions for their loved ones.

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