Inside Ukraine: ‘We thought the Russians were our brothers, how could they do this to us?’

Millions of ordinary people have been thrown into an unbelievably grim situation by the Ukrainian invasion. Here some of those who are still in the country explain how they are finding a way to survive amid the chaos

Oleksandra Kuznietsova, 28, a marketing assistant in Kyiv: as attacks intensify on the city, she and her husband realise they may have to leave the country soon

Viacheslav Rud turned 25 last week, and he celebrated with cake and a phone call from Poland. “My twin sister, she had big plans for her birthday, and she was very upset that they couldn’t go ahead. But I didn’t, which was good – they would only have been destroyed,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t have any.”

Rud and his sister were unable to mark their birthdays because Ukraine, the country that raised them, ...