Life in Ukraine changed in an instant when Russia invaded three years ago, but Ukrainians and their Australian supporters have turned out in force to demonstrate their spirit remains unbreakable.
Hundreds of people converged on Federation Square in Melbourne on Monday to commemorate the three-year anniversary of Russia's illegal war, alongside events held across the nation.
Demonstrators grasped a snaking Ukrainian flag that extended for metres and wrapped around the gathering.
They held up photos of fallen Ukrainians and signs denouncing Russia and President Vladimir Putin while blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags were worn draped around shoulders and flown high in the air.
Leah Protyniak's grandparents migrated to Australia after World War II, but her remaining family in Ukraine have had their lives turned upside down.
"The men are on the front line, and the women are trying to continue to run their businesses and live their lives," she told AAP.
"It's really hard because they still have air raid sirens going off, and every time that happens, they need to close their businesses and head to shelters.
"Even the places that you think may be relatively safer, it's still not a normal life, and nowhere is really safe. You never know what's going to happen."
The three-year war has torn Petr Kuzmin apart.
The Russian said the conflict was difficult to reconcile given he has family in both Ukraine and Russia, and worrying about their safety has led to mental breakdowns.
His mother's cousin and family remain in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, which was the first city to fall in Russia's initial advance but which has since been liberated by Ukrainian forces.
However, the shelling has not stopped.
"They still have houses on the street that have been bombed out completely, and it's very tiring and stressful, because you never know what the next day will bring," Mr Kuzmin told AAP.
"But they believe that this is their home, and they don't want to leave so they are sticking it out."
To ease the pressure of his strong emotions, Mr Kuzmin regularly attends rallies in support of Ukraine.
"I'm demonstrating to the Australian public that not all Russians are for the war," he said.
Roxanne O'Donnell, the mother of 24-year-old Australian soldier Sage O'Donnell who died in 2022 while fighting for Ukraine, remembered her son as a wise and natural protector who dared to make the world a better place.
"He sold his car, he left his job, he left friends and loved ones and a comfortable life," Ms O'Donnell told the crowd.
"He told me he could no longer lay in his bed at night knowing that men, women and children were being murdered in Ukraine."
On December 21, 2022, eight months after leaving home, Mr O'Donnell's life was cut short and his mother's was changed forever.
"I'm one of many that is left trying to grieve the loss of loved ones," Ms O'Donnell said.
"Even in a country so far away, I share the same tears as Ukrainian families, and know the cost is high and that it should be."
Australia on Monday imposed an extra 149 sanctions on Russia, bringing the total number to more than 1400 since the start of the war on February 24, 2022.
The nation has committed more than $1.5 billion in aid to Ukraine after more than 46,000 Ukrainian troops were killed and another 380,000 wounded.
