A UKRAINIAN man living in Cork for the past seven years has said he is angry, sad, and frustrated about the ongoing military attacks in his home country where his sister is still living.

Maksym said his sister spent yesterday hiding among the pipes in an underground compartment under her apartment building. The 23-year-old said he was up at 5am yesterday morning, following news feeds and verified sources to try to find out what is happening in Ukraine.

The young man said he was very worried about his sister and said it was close to impossible for her to get out of the country at the moment.

“I feel sick, hopeless, I can’t help,” Maksym said.

Maksym said the current events bore a “huge resemblance” to the events of 1939 when Germany and the Soviet Union invaded Poland at the start of the Second World War.

Maksym said he was full of emotions about what was going on in his home country.

“There is so little you can do and others that could help, don’t deliver,” he said.

“You feel hopeless.”

Dozens of Ukrainians gathered outside the Dáil yesterday to express their anger at the Russian assault on their country. The crowd chanted, waved Ukrainian flags and carried placards attacking the full-scale invasion launched by Russian president Vladimir Putin.

They were joined briefly by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who stopped to talk to some of those who had gathered on Kildare St.

Mr Martin told the demonstrators that Ireland would work within the EU to respond to the crisis and promised to “keep in touch” with the Ukrainian community in Ireland to offer any help they require.