War in Ukraine: "My city was attacked, but my mother didn't believe me."

Alexandra and her four rescue dogs have been placed in the bathroom of their apartment in Kharkiv since the shooting began. "When I heard the 1st explosion, I ran from the house to get my dogs out of their kennels. People panicked and left their cars. I was so scared," she said.

The 25-year-old woman regularly calls her mother, who lives in Moscow. But in that conversation, and even after sending videos of her bombed hometown, Alexandra failed to convince her mother of the danger she was in.

"I didn't want to scare my parents, but I started telling them firsthand that civilians and children were dying," he said.

"But even though they were worried about me, they still said that it might just be a coincidence that the Russian army would never attack civilians. It was the Ukrainians who killed their people."

It is common for Ukrainians to have families across the border in Russia. But for some, like Alexandra, their Russian relatives have opposing views on the conflict. She believes that because of the stories being told by Russia's tightly controlled media, Alexandra said her mother was repeating stories she had heard on Russian state television.

"I was so scared when my mother quoted Russian TV. They just brainwashed people. And people believed them," says Alexandra. "My parents understand that military action is taking place here. But they said: "Russia has come to free you. They won't break anything; they won't touch you. They are only targeting military bases."

While we were interrogating Alexandra, the shooting continued. The internet connection was weak, so we had to exchange voice messages. "I almost forgot the silence. They were shooting non-stop," he said.

But Russian state television channels on the same day did not mention the rockets hitting residential areas of Kharkiv, the deaths of civilians, or the four people killed while waiting in line for water.