Ukraine Special: Kiev under siege

On the morning of February 24, Katya Niporka was woken up by the sound of Russian artillery shaking Kyiv.

Soon after, the rest of the world was waking up to the news that Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared war on Ukraine and that an invasion was underway. For weeks Ukrainians had been hoping for the best and planning for the worst as hundreds of thousands of troops massed on the border.

Most expected that, if an invasion happened, it would be in the south-east of the country, where Ukraine has been fighting with Russian-backed separatists since 2014. Few expected attacks on the capital.

In this special episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Erin Brown asks what it felt like to be in Kyiv and under siege from Russian forces, and what the future holds for Ukrainians like Katya, who are weighing up whether to stay and fight or try and flee to safety.