Despite now living more than 14,000 kilometres away from Ukraine, the Wagga-based musician has had her life flipped upside down by Russia's invasion.

"All day and all night I am looking through the news," she said. "I am physically present here in Wagga but I am absent-minded."

The distant destruction has filled Mrs Burak with a feeling of powerlessness.

Each day she hears from friends and family back home, many joining the fight while others hide desperately in metro stations and bunkers.

"One of my friends has just given birth to a baby girl last night while hiding underground," she said.

Thousands of people have already been killed in the Russia-Ukraine war, including hundreds of civilians.

Mrs Burak said hearing about all the deaths was "like something out of a horror movie".

"People are dying in the streets, civilians are dying, children are dying," she said. "It is just horrible."

One of the few comforts still available to Mrs Burak is her love for the bandura, an iconic Ukrainian instrument she has played since her youth.

In a bid to help those back home in Ukraine, Mrs Burak has begun holding fundraising concerts at the Curious Rabbit cafe in Wagga.

Through these events, Mrs Burak hopes to raise awareness of the invasion to people in the Riverina and gather funds to send to Ukrainian hospitals.

"I think this instrument is my weapon right now and that is how I can help," she said.

The efforts are a fitting use for the bandura, which has a storied role in the history of Ukraine, having been regularly used to rebel against Russian rule since the 19^th century.

"My instrument is sacred in Ukraine, like the didgeridoo is in Australia," Mrs Burak said.

"People would use it to carry secret information and the Russian government would try to suppress it. It is like a voice of the Ukrainian nation."

For these reasons, the bandura is also a reminder of the centuries of build up which have led to this conflict.

Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine was officially launched on February 24, but for Mrs Burak the conflict between the two nations has been ever-present.

Born in Ternopil, a small city towards the west of Ukraine, during Soviet occupation, Mrs Burak remembers her upbringing as carefree but undercut with sharp reminders of suppression.

"When you are young, adventurous and you don't have any serious commitments life is beautiful," she said.

"But when I look back on life in Ukraine from the point of view I have now, I realise we were under control all the time."

Mrs Burak remembers being under the watchful eye of a supervisor every time she was permitted to perform outside of Ukraine and while studying in Kyiv she was warned that attending anti-Soviet demonstrations could impact her graduation.

Since 2014, Mrs Burak has been bewildered by the apparent lack of action towards the pro-Russian groups taking control of Donbas and Donetsk.

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"This war didn't start four days ago," she said. "It started eight years ago."

"It was shocking to me why all of Ukraine is not involved in solving this problem. Half of Ukraine was fighting and the other part were just living normal civilian life.

"We have been hoping someone will stop these things but now it has escalated into this open, full-scale war with Russia."

Mrs Burak said she had been blown away by the support she had been shown by members of the Wagga community.

Many residents have reached out to her to offer their sympathies and other have even called asking where they can donate to support Ukraine.

"The human generosity has been touching," she said.

"I'm praying to higher powers and the universe that this horror will finish in my country and we will have peace finally."

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