This is the moment a relieved mum and her daughter broke down in tears, during an emotional reunion on the Poland- Ukraine border.
The daughter, believed to be aged in her early 20s, sobbed while being held by her mother moments after arriving on a train at Poland’s Przemysl railway station, six miles from the Ukrainian border.
The daughter had been alongside hundreds of mums and children who had travelled on the same train from Lviv after taking the difficult decision to flee their homeland, while their men are forced to stay and fight Vladimir Putin’s Russian invaders.
Many of the kids, including some wearing backpacks containing all of their favourite possessions, clutched soft cuddly toys, while their mums fought back tears after being overcome with relief at finally reaching safety.
Among them was Kyiv-native Yanina Bohachova who travelled with her ten-year-old daughter Lisa.
Still appearing shocked by their experience, she said: “I feel so thankful we are finally here and safe. It was a long journey, but we had no option.
“Every night we were hiding in the basement while listening to the sound of bombs going off. It was so stressful and scary.”
Yanina, who works for a car website, added: “This is not a war, it is mass murder of the Ukrainian people.
“Buildings with new-born babies and children inside are being bombed.”
Six days after Russian leader Vladimir Putin first waged war, the refugee crisis was last night deepening with more than 850,000 having left Ukraine since the war started, according to the UN.
And with more Russian airstrikes and civilian deaths being reported in Ukraine, it is clear anger against Putin is mounting.
Summing up the mood, law student Mary Kobylinska, 19, said: “Putin is a war criminal. I hate him and the whole world can now see he’s the Hitler of the 21st Century.
“When I realised other countries had only imposed sanctions against him I was disappointed.
“Our people have died to protect Europe and European nations are only imposing sanctions on this guy.
“They will be a problem for ordinary people, but not for Putin. I want him to be killed. Every Ukrainian man, woman and child wants Putin dead.”
Mary added: “Before the war I was always against murder, but not now.”
The student was travelling with her mum Natasha, 45, and siblings Anna, eight, and Ivan, 10, who touchingly insisted I accept one of his sweets.
Their dad Dimitriy, 63, stayed behind in Kyiv to protect their family’s home and paint shop.
Mary added: “I have cried every day since the start of the war and was scared every time I heard the air raid sirens in Kyiv.
“I said ‘I want to go to a safe place’ and I do feel safe now, but I’ll still need more time to get back to feeling normal.”
Housewife Svetlana, 37, also arrived on the train after a two-day journey from Kyiv with her children Maria, 11, and Ivan, three.
Her husband, who she didn’t want to name, stayed behind in the capital to fight.
She said: “It is terrible in Kyiv. People are dying. We need other countries to help us.”
Meanwhile, more than one hundred Ukrainians queued outside the station to get on the same carriages back to Lviv to bravely fight for their country.
They included Sasha Banina, 25, from Kyiv, who stood in the queue holding a Ukrainian flag.
She told me how she had been visiting Cyprus when war broke out last Thursday.
And she wept as she admitted: “I never imagined war was coming to my country.
“The last six days have been terrifying.
“It has been very stressful and I haven’t been able to sleep worrying about my husband and my parents and grandparents.
“We have been in contact every day, so many times every day.”
Asked if her loved-ones had considered fleeing Ukraine to join her in Poland, she said: “No way! It’s our country and we want to fight for it.”
Sasha, a copy-writer, said her husband Bogdan, 27, has now joined Ukraine’s army.
And when asked if she is herself ready to fire a gun, she said: “If it comes to it, I will. I just want to do something and help. I am so proud of my country.”
Ivan, a teacher who has been working in Poland for the last two weeks, was also preparing to travel on the train to Lviv while wearing a Union Jack snood.
The 40-year-old, who completed 18 months army training as a younger man, was desperate to be reunited with his wife Oksana, 39, and daughters Anastasia, 14, and Viktoria, 10.
He said: “Everything changed while I was away and they have been very stressed.
“At this time we should be together.”
He added: “I hope Putin is in his bunker and will die like Hitler in 1945.
“If he’s a real man he’ll kill himself to save his own people.”