Some Irish citizens have decided to stay in Ukraine even though a Russian invasion could be just days away.
There are around 50 Irish people in the country, but despite a warning from the Department of Foreign Affairs about leaving, it has emerged that a number of people are travelling there for medical treatment.
It has also been revealed that the Irish parents of 14 babies due to be born to surrogates there are currently considering whether or not to travel.
Irish photographer Bradley Stafford is staying in the country, although he and his Ukrainian wife Anastasiia have moved from the capital Kyiv, which was their home.
He said: “This is my home, this is my wife’s home, she has her grandparents here who wouldn’t be in any state to leave.
“Now if it were to, God forbid, kick off, then we would have to reassess our options.”
He told RTE’s This Week programme that they took the decision to leave the capital because of a potential conflict in the area.
He said: “We took the decision to leave about a week ago because my wife was getting very worried about reports she was reading in the news about potential conflict in the Kyiv area, which had been almost unimaginable up to recently."
Bradley added that the mood among his friends in the country has changed and they are worried that an invasion could be just days away.
He said: “A lot of Ukrainians are used to the fact that the war in the east has become a part of daily life, but the threat is being discussed a lot more amongst people and people are getting worried and putting plans in place if the unthinkable happens.”
Another Irish man, Paul Niland, who runs a national suicide prevention organisation in Kyiv, also told the This Week programme that he is determined to stay.
He said: “This is my home, I’m staying here, my life is here, this has been my home for 19 years and I have things to do here, but I understand why people would make plans to leave.
“I’m concerned about the threat to the east of the country, because that is where Russia already occupies a part of the region. I don’t believe there is a significant threat to the capital Kyiv simply because there are three million people resident here in Kyiv.
“There is no way that the Russian military could either occupy this place, or dream of holding it. The resistance from the civilians here would just be enormous and they just would not be able to hold on to this place.”
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