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As the West cracks down on Russia with sanctions, the New Zealand government's called its Ambassador in to explain.
And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has said travel bans and export controls were a possibility.
US president Joe Biden says Russia is violating international law by ordering troops into Eastern Ukraine and Nato says there is every indication Russia is planning a full-scale attack.
Back here local Ukrainians are worried for their friends and family.
Ukrainian Association member Yurij Shyryy said people were expecting "the worst".
"There will be war.
"Russia is not only the enemy to Ukrainians. Russia is an enemy to all free world. That's how they're behaving - no rules."
He said no one in Ukraine was talking of leaving, but if the situation deteriorated, people would try to save the children.
"No one wants to leave and many people have nowhere to go.
"Remember that lot of Ukrainians, no matter from which parts they are, they have been fighting against Russia [to a] certain degree over the last eight years."
Ukrainians in Aotearoa felt the government here was "running behind" and a "little more action" was needed, he said.
Shyryy said New Zealand should also impose sanctions on Russia.
He worried he would not be able to see his elderly parents in Ukraine again.