Ukraine: 'My heart is crying because of the war'

Almost 1,500 miles from home, BBC News NI is in Warsaw with a husband and wife team waiting for aid coming from Northern Ireland.

Colin and Joanna Tinsley usually run camps for Polish children with their charity Hope for Youth Ministries.

Now they are organising 31 lorries full of essentials for Ukrainian refugees containing food, clothing and medical supplies for those who need it most.

Three lorries have arrived, 22 more are coming.

It has taken the drivers 72 hours to travel across Europe to reach this point.

"Most of this aid will go to Ukraine, that's where they need it most," Colin told BBC News NI.

"These drivers are risking their lives driving right into the heart of Ukraine, so the least we can do is help them."

'My heart is crying'

Lorry loads of aid is coming across Europe from Northern Ireland, a massive humanitarian effort.

Joanna said she was "absolutely overwhelmed".

Joanna Tinsley said her heart was crying because of the war in Ukraine

"People giving their time, trucks and transport," she said.

"My heart is crying because of the war, but it's also built up because we are seeing how much you are helping them."

We watch as one of the trucks leaves Warsaw.

It will now make the dangerous journey into Ukraine. Meanwhile, thousands of Ukrainians are coming the other way, towards safety.

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Next, we arrive at a building on the outskirts of Warsaw.

It used to be a church, now it is a makeshift home for those that had to flee their country.

Church pews have been replaced with bunk beds to support refugee families

The pews are stacked up against the wall.

The room is now filled with rows and rows of bunkbeds with back packs on each bed.

People's whole lives crammed into a single bag.

Maryna Zai fled Ukraine with only the clothes she was wearing. She ran from the west of the country with her two children.

"I have a husband, he is in Ukraine because my country is at war," she explained.

Maryna Zai's husband has had to remain in Ukraine

"Polish people have a very big heart for us. They give us food, clothes, they tell us we'll be ok in the future."

Maryna breaks down when asked how she feels knowing her husband has had to stay in Ukraine.

"I cry. My uncle and my brother stay in Ukraine also. It is very difficult."

The reality of this brutal war is clear to see on the face of Maryna and her children.

As we are leaving, the children gather to sing us a song. It is difficult to watch.

Some of the children sang as the BBC News NI team left the refugee centre

Just outside Warsaw, we travel to a college that is giving refugees a home.

When we arrive we see teenagers playing basketball. Younger children are on a trampoline, laughing and having fun.

Even in war there are glimmers of normal life.

'It was hell'

Julia Glushko came from Kyiv with her mother. She travelled through the night to get to the border.

"I don't know where to go or what to do," she said.

"I feel upset because I ran away. I want to come back and help somehow.

"Can I be useful?"

Julia Glushko said she does not know what she will do next

Julia said her journey to the border was very difficult.

"It was hell," she described. "I have a pain in my heart. My mother is crying all of the time.

"The night we left they started bombing my building. I saw rockets hitting the building. Normal, peaceful homes."

Julia said people who had been sleeping "are now dead".

She is asked what she will do next.

"I have no plan.

"I had my life, now I don't know what to do. I don't know if I have a home."

Julia and Maryna have never met, but their experiences are so similar.

Two women's lives changed forever with nowhere to call home.

It is simply safer in Poland than it is back home in Ukraine.