Kyiv City Ballet rehearses Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" in central Paris

Stranded in Paris when war broke out at the end of February, the Kyiv City Ballet has since taken up residence at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and has toured throughout France in recent months.

The young dancers say they want to feel they are supporting their country, while their families are relieved they are abroad.

Ballerina Maryna Apanasenko, 19, from Lutsk in north-west Ukraine, escaped shortly after the war began.

A dance student in Ukraine who became a professional ballerina in Paris, she feels lucky to be alive and in residence in Paris.

For director Kozlov, the circumstances of the war mean that his company has gone from being dancers to being representatives of their country at war. He wants to show the world that his company is "brave" and "unbreakable".

Kyiv City Ballet will travel to York, England, on 14 June for its first UK performance, and will perform five shows in the Czech Republic later this summer.