A family of Ukrainian refugees who were blocked from seeing their Brisbane family have been reunited.

Ukrainian-Australian Iryna Bilyk hugged her mother, sister-in-law and niece today after they were dropped off at a local service station by bus.

Ms Bilyk's mum, also named Iryna, said the first hug with her daughter felt like "happiness, joy and freedom".

READ MORE: 'They took her away': Refugee family fleeing Ukraine forced into Queensland quarantine facility

The family fled their home country, leaving the capital city of Kyiv in a small car, as the sound of shelling continued around them.

Forced to Ms Bilyk's father and brothers behind, the trio headed for safety over the Romanian border.

The family drove south to Moldova, before continuing to Romania.

It was there Ms Bilyk's husband, Martin Cropper, flew from Brisbane to meet them, before all four family members made the final journey to Australia.

READ MORE: Why Russia is struggling against Ukraine

But at the airport, Ms Bilyk said her mother, sister-in-law, and niece were immediately taken away by customs officers to Brisbane's Wellcamp quarantine facility due to not being vaccinated.

They were later granted an exemption.

"It broke my heart when we landed in Australia, after all that we'd been through," Mr Cropper said.

"No one wanted to help out, the decision was made then and there to take them away."

"It makes the boys in Ukraine happy to know their womenfolk are safe, but my objective is to get my father and my two brothers out of there as well."

The family is now isolating at home together.

Sydney woman opens her doors

There was an emotional reunion in Sydney today as a Ukrainian family reunited with an old friend.

Sydney resident Mila threw open her home in the city's inner west, where she has been "waiting to get them in my arms".

"This is my way of fighting the aggression no matter how far it is," she said.

READ MORE: Chilling word from Putin suggests war 'not going to plan'

The Ukrainian mother and her three children touched down in Australia with only their hand luggage and some stuffed toys.

"Every child deserves a fair go and these kids just lost this fair go in their lives and this is just my little contribution," Mila said.

The journey hasn't been easy for the family.

They spent four nights in bunkers as the war closed in on Kyiv before they were crammed onto a train to the western city of Lviv.

They crossed the border into Poland on foot and made it to Warsaw, where the mother volunteered to help other misplaced Ukrainians.

They finally arrived in Germany and then Sydney.

The children's father stayed behind after he enlisted to fight Vladimir Putin's army.

State and federal governments are prioritising emergency immigration from Ukraine, with the hope more families can find sanctuary in Australia.

Russian forces have pressed their assault on Ukrainian cities, hitting a building near Lviv's international airport with missiles, as world leaders pushed for an investigation of the Kremlin's repeated attacks on civilian targets, including airstrikes on schools, hospitals and residential areas.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said on Telegram that several missiles hit a facility used to repair military aircraft and damaged a bus repair facility, though no casualties were immediately reported.

The aircraft repair facility had suspended work ahead of the attack, the mayor said.

READ MORE: Russian shelling sets one of the world's largest markets alight

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The missiles that hit Lviv were launched from the Black Sea, but two of the six that were launched were shot down, the Ukrainian air force's western command said on Facebook.

Not far from the Polish border and well behind the front lines, Lviv and the surrounding area has not been spared from Russia's attacks, the worst of which killed nearly three dozen people last weekend at a training facility near the city.

https://twitter.com/AmeliaAdams9/status/1504711111463284736https://twitter.com/AmeliaAdams9/status/1504692379571437597

Meanwhile, the city's population has swelled by some 200,000 as people from elsewhere in Ukraine have sought shelter there.

Smoke could be seen rising from the western part of the capital Kyiv after an early morning barrage on Friday.

READ MORE: Putin's chilling warning to Russian 'traitors' and 'scum' a sign things aren't going to plan

In city after city around Ukraine, hospitals, schools and buildings where people sought safety from the bombardment have been attacked. Rescue workers searched for survivors in the ruins of a theatre that served as a shelter when it was blown apart by a Russian airstrike in the besieged southern city of Mariupol.

And in Merefa, near the northeast city of Kharkiv, at least 21 people were killed when Russian artillery destroyed a school and a community centre, a local official said.

In the northern city of Chernihiv, dozens of bodies were brought to the morgue in just one day.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said earlier today that American officials were evaluating potential war crimes, and that if the intentional targeting of civilians by Russia is confirmed, there will be "massive consequences".

READ MORE: Over 100 survivors freed from bombed Ukraine theatre

The United Nations political chief, Undersecretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, also called for an investigation into civilian casualties, reminding the UN Security Council that international humanitarian law bans direct attacks on civilians.

She said many of the daily attacks battering Ukrainian cities "are reportedly indiscriminate" and involve the use of "explosive weapons with a wide impact area".

Ms DiCarlo said the devastation in Mariupol and Kharkiv "raises grave fears about the fate of millions of residents of Kyiv and other cities facing intensifying attacks".

The World Health Organisation said it has verified 43 attacks on hospitals and health facilities, with 12 people killed and 34 injured.

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A lawyer for the man charged with murdering nine-year-old Charlise Mutten while she was holidaying in the Blue Mountains with her mother says there is a possibility someone else was involved in the primary school student's death.

The allegations came to light after Justin Stein's case was briefly mentioned at Penrith Local Court today, three months after he allegedly shot the Tweed Heads Public student dead before disposing of her body in a barrel on the banks of the Colo River.

Outside court, his lawyer Peter Katsoolis told 9News his client was defending the charges.

READ MORE: Why Russia is struggling against Ukraine

"It's very early days, there's still no clear motive," Mr Katsoolis said before adding, "there was somebody else possibly involved".

Police allege Stein fatally shot Charlise on January 11 or 12 while she was spending her school holidays at his family's sprawling Mount Wilson estate in the Blue Mountains.

At the time of her alleged murder, police believe Charlise's mother, Kallista Mutten, was staying at a caravan park on the Hawkesbury River after leaving her daughter in Stein's care.

Charlise, who lived in Queensland with her grandparents, had travelled to NSW to spend her school holidays with her mother.

Detectives arrested Stein in January following a week-long search with thousands of volunteers at Mount Wilson after Ms Mutten had reported her daughter missing.

READ MORE: Chilling word from Putin suggests war 'not going to plan'

In the days after his arrest, police released CCTV which allegedly shows Stein towing a boat containing Charlise's body and driving to several locations — including Drummoyne, Windsor and Marsden Park — before dumping her body at Colo.

"We've got a long way to go to analyse all of those movements," Mr Katsoolis said.

Homicide detectives are still investigating exactly where and when Charlise was killed and are yet to find a murder weapon but police claim phone records show Stein allegedly bought sandbags from Bunnings before his GPS tracked him to the Colo River.

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New South Wales has recorded a further 20,050 COVID-19 infections overnight, as concerns grow about an Autumn Omicron wave.

The new figures mark a slight drop from the 20,087 cases seen yesterday.

A further six people have died as hospitalisations increased to 1060 but ICU admissions have decreased to 32.

READ MORE: Putin's chilling warning to Russian 'traitors' and 'scum' a sign

SA records three new COVID-19 deaths

There have been three new COVID-19-related deaths reported in South Australia.

SA Health said a man in his 20s, a woman in her 40s, and a man in his 80s tested positive for the virus and passed away.

There are 136 people with COVID-19 in South Australian hospitals and five in ICU.

WA records 6176 new COVID-19 cases

Western Australia has 6176 new COVID-19 cases, which is a decrease of around 600 from yesterday's total.

There are 134 people with COVID-19 in hospitals, while four are in ICU.

It comes as the government kickstarts its program of distributing free RATs at train stations across Perth.

More stands handing out the free RATs will be set up across universities, TAFE campuses, and shopping centres over the next few weeks.

Queensland records 11 new COVID-19 deaths

Queensland has recorded 11 new COVID-19 related deaths and 6103 new infections.

It brings the state's total active cases to 34,075.

There are currently 245 Queenslanders with the virus in hospital and 20 in ICU.

Victoria records a drop in daily COVID-19 numbers

Victoria has recorded 9036 new cases — also a decrease from yesterday.

As the infectious Omicron BA.2 sub-variant spreads, experts are concerned real case numbers could be much higher.

Health experts will roll out a national COVID-19 surveillance program to get a better picture of what cases could look like.

Researchers will look at around 5,000 anonymous blood samples to see if they can pick up traces of COVID-19 antibodies.

READ MORE: WA town experiences hottest autumn day in recorded history

"Samples for this survey were taken six weeks after the Omicron peak, which is sufficient for antibodies to have developed in people who were infected during that time," says Professor Kristine Macartney, National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance Director.

The data from those samples is predicted to show true number of cases lurking in our community is higher than what's currently being reported.

"We know that relying on reporting of positive tests underestimates the true number of COVID-19 cases, particularly since high vaccine coverage has reduced the proportion of cases with symptoms. Serosurveys help us understand by how much," says Dr Dorothy Machalek, lead investigator on the project from the Kirby Institute.

READ MORE: Girl attacked by kangaroo in NSW while sitting on porch

Experts expect the first survey results will be released within weeks.

Health experts are urging residents across Australia to remain vigilant and adhere to public health measures.

"(Omicron) is probably just as severe and we have had more deaths this year in 2022 than in the whole of the previous two years," infectious diseases expert Professor Robert Booy told Today on Thursday.

"We have to pay attention. We have to do clever things."

He said a return to lockdown would not be necessary, but people should consider a return to mask-wearing indoors, working from home if possible, and avoiding crowds.