Ilia Kyrychenko was 10-years-old when he and his mother fled Ukraine after Russia's invasion.

"We woke up in the morning and then we saw the explosions. It was like in the city next to us, so we could see it from [the] window," he said.

"It was basically like leaving everything behind, where you travel with only two backpacks … all the way here."

Ilia was forced to leave everything behind when his family fled Ukraine due to the war. (ABC News: Abbey Haberecht)

Almost four years later, the now 14-year-old is navigating life as a teenager in Sydney.

Like most people his age, he used to spend much of his time on apps like Instagram and Snapchat to stay in touch with friends in the city and in Ukraine.

That changed when the world's first social media ban came into effect in December.

On the night the ban started, Ilia sat down with his mum and decided to delete all his social media.

Ilia says he felt relief upon deleting his social media accounts. (ABC News: Abbey Haberecht)

While many teenagers have expressed concerns about the new rules, Ilia has largely welcomed the change.

The 14-year-old said removing his accounts came as a relief.

"The ban started on the 10th [of December] … I got some sleep [that night]… It was really nice," he said.

But Ilia said the ban has not been without its challenges, as most of his friends in Ukraine communicate through Instagram and Snapchat, which he no longer has access to.

"It's harder cause now you can only talk to your parents, cause everything is locked and you can't really access them through [Snapchat] messages or anything,"

he said.

Ilia said he relied on alternative messaging apps like WhatsApp and Viber to stay connected with family and friends overseas.

Ilia Kyrychenko would use social media to stay in touch with friends in Sydney and overseas. (ABC News: Abbey Haberecht)