China may be thousands of kilometres from Ukraine but the conflict in the Eastern European country is at the forefront of Ukrainian students and workers far from home.

According to the Ukrainian embassy in Beijing, between 50,000 and 100,000 Ukrainians live in China, most of them studying or working in Shanghai, Beijing and Harbin in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang.

One of them is Daryna Ustenko, 32, a student at Renmin University in Beijing, whose 60-year-old parents live in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital which came under heavy air attack from Friday as Russian troops entered the city.

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"I'm beside myself, sad and outraged," Ustenko said.

"My parents said they could hear the sound of explosions. But Dad is unwilling to leave Kyiv. He wants to protect his land, his home.

"I think he's right. I wish I were there, standing together with my parents and friends at this crucial moment.

"I'm proud of Ukrainian soldiers. I've donated money to the military, doing what we overseas Ukrainians can do and should do to serve our motherland."

For Chinese in Ukraine, a long, anxious wait for a flight out to safety

Ukrainian embassies around the world have appealed for donations through social media platforms from Twitter to Weibo, after the National Bank of Ukraine opened a special fundraising account on Thursday to support the country's armed forces.

Valeriia Litovka, 30, who works for a Chinese company in Beijing, said contributing to the fund was the "basic" overseas Ukrainians could do during wartime.

"To Ukrainians away from their homeland, the most horrible thing is when you get up in the morning, you can't hear your mother over the phone," said Litovka, whose mother and uncle are in Kharkiv, the second-biggest city in Ukraine.

"I've hardly had any sleep these days. I call my mum every few hours and message my friends frequently. The only relief is seeing them get back to me, so that I know they are safe."

Litovka said it was a relief that the internet and telecommunications equipment were still working.

"I can reach my friend and her 2½-year-old daughter in a bomb shelter," she said.

Litovka said another friend told her that her four-year-old daughter tried to comfort her by saying: "Mum, don't be scared of the firecrackers."