'I felt really helpless': Ukrainian woman in Cork helping to send humanitarian aid

Irene Roytenko, who has lived in Cork since 2003, says her brother and several cousins have volunteered to fight in the war and she wanted to do something to help

Ukrainian Irene Roytenko loads containers for aid for Ukraine by charity group Project Espwa near Dripsey, Co Cork. Picture: Eddie O'Hare

A Ukrainian woman living in Cork who wanted to go back to her homeland to fight against the Russian invasion says she is exhausted from receiving calls from relatives saying goodbye before they go to war.

Irene Roytenko has been living in Cork since 2003 and led a group of other Ukrainians, Polish, and Romanians on Saturday to load aid for her home country, in Dripsey.