This tragedy hits home more than the others, people are saying, because it is so much easier for us to relate to Europeans, even those living through a volatile and real-time humanitarian crisis.

That it feels different, somehow, to watch people who look just like us, who until recently were living relatively normal lives, in peace, safety and security, suddenly plunged into the chaos of war.

Different, that is, to the by now familiar images of Afghani women forced to wear burqas, refugees in Yemen huddling in vast camps, Syrian streets filled with rubble and bombed-out cars, or the ongoing and seemingly unresolvable Middle-Eastern conflict.

This is a feeling and sentiment worth interrogating. Because from a humanitarian perspective, and from our incredibly privileged position here in Australia, all countries experiencing war deserve our empathy, our mounting horror, our urge to help.

But perhaps it is the very suddenness of the situation in Ukraine, the metaphorical rug being pulled out from under an entire society in what seemed like mere days, that brings our empathy and concern so close to the surface.

It is also a conflict of particularly high geopolitical stakes, drawing in the US, China, Australia, Germany, and even otherwise neutral Sweden, so unprecedented and unprovoked have these attacks been.

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And the fact remains that due to the immediacy of the situation, and Ukraine's status as a modern country in which communication with the outside world continues, much of the world is currently united in watching events there in real time.

There is an urge among us to let the people of Ukraine know that we are watching, that we know what's happening and are united in our support for their cause.

And there are certainly many ways Australians can show their support and help Ukraine during this crisis.

The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations is the national peak body for 24 Ukrainian Australian community organisations, and is urging people to donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.

Organisations like Care International, Save the Children and UNICEF are delivering water, hygiene and education supplies to affected areas, while Ukraine-founded Voices for the Children is providing psychological support to children caught up in the conflict.

And in the midst of the conflict, there are several Ukrainian charities working on the ground providing emergency humanitarian aid to the people displaced by the Russian invasion.

Sometimes, financial support provided online or over the phone doesn't feel quite immediate enough. The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations also is holding events to raise awareness and let people know how they can help further.

It probably seems futile, from where we sit, watching children's broken bodies being piled into ambulances, reading of women giving birth in bomb shelters, seeing images of neighbourhoods being shelled and fighting outside Europe's largest power plant.

But anything is better than doing nothing; aid organisations rely on the attention and concern of the world to fulfil their humanitarian function.

It's time to step up in any way we can.

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