The Ukrainian mum of three young children whose parents and family are trapped in her war-torn country has raised more than £66,000 for refugee children in an online appeal.

Nataliya Cummings from Pontrilas near Abergavenny has also sent a helmet and protective vest to her brother who has joined the fight to defend their homeland from the brutal Russian invasion.

And the 36-year-old, who runs charitable tourism business Experience Ukraine & Beyond, taking people to rural areas, says: “With our courage and humour we will survive.”

Her fundraiser to help shelter displaced children and young people who have had to flee their homes raised an incredible £66,704 in just over week.

It was so successful, she has had to apply to set up a charity to get the full funds released by JustGiving, and will start fundraising again when that happens.

Her brother Andriy Prepodobnyia, a human rights lawyer who works for the presidential secretary in Kyiv looking after prisons and mental health hospitals, has joined the Ukrainian Army to fight.

But Nataliya, who has lived on the Welsh border with her husband Kie Robert and their three children for 12 years, said last week he was still waiting to be supplied with a weapon and ammunition and had to find his own protective equipment.

Nataliya’s parents and 92-year-old grandmother, who suffers dementia, are trapped in their home town of Zdolbuniv near the Belarus border.

Her mother turned 60 on the first day of the Russian invasion, when her daughter said she shared an emotional phone conversation with her.

Nataliya said sirens sound regularly and people are in bomb shelters with the situation “very scary, very frightening”.

“My parents cannot move because my 92-year-old grandmother is too frail to leave. She would not be able to travel so my family is staying with her,” she said.

“My dad is looking after her full-time. She wouldn’t be able to escape or survive. She has just been diagnosed with severe dementia.”

She added: “My brother has been waiting near the border. He’s waiting for what protective equipment we and others can send to him.

“But it is very hard because this equipment is very expensive. I never ever imagined I would have to do this.

“We have managed to arrange a helmet and vest but nothing else so far. We are still trying to do so.”

On her mum’s birthday on the first day of the invasion, Nataliya posted: “It’s my mum’s birthday today! A big 60! I was waiting to call her and wish her all the best things in the world because she deserves them, but instead we were both crying on a phone….

“And then my mum said at least we will all remember the day very well. Just can’t simply put into words the turmoil I am in right now, but need to stay strong!”

And she added: “Things that are happening right now round Ukraine feel like a worst nightmare. But panicking about it is no help to anyone.

“We must stay calm and help people that need this help the most.”

In a “Love Letter to Ukraine’ published in The Sunday Times, Nataliya also wrote: “It’s getting harder to control my emotions. I’ve been talking to my parents… and crying, pleading for them to come to the border so that I can collect them, while also trying my best to raise funds.

“I am in touch with people in villages who we visit on tours. There’s Bohdan Petrychuk, an embroiderer, Hannah, a pysanky (an artist who decorates Easter eggs), and weavers Svitlana and Oksana…

“Ukrainian people are fighters and very courageous. The country historically is a borderland that has always been invaded by different nations and has only been independent for 30 years or so.

“Ukraine fought so hard to be independent, I don’t think they will give it up so easily.”

For more information, see https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/helpyoungpeopleofukraine and www.facebook.com/ExperienceUkraine