My fears for my family in Georgia, by pop star Katie Melua

Katie’s mother, Tamari, and 15-year-old brother Zurab are visiting relatives in the capital, Tbilisi, and the 23-year-old singer, who is Britain’s best-selling female artist, is planning to visit Georgia in two weeks, insisting she did not want to be ‘kept away from my own country’.

Concerned: Katie Melua is keeping in touch with her Georgian relatives by phone

She told The Mail on Sunday that her uncle may be called up to serve in the Georgian army, and added: ‘I spoke to my mum and brother on the phone yesterday.

‘Of course I am worried about them, but my family don’t want to be over-dramatic about it. We thought my uncle might have to be called up but that hasn’t happened yet.

‘It’s so difficult to find out proper information at the moment. I’m relying on my family to give me a realistic picture of what’s going on.’

Katie was born in Western Georgia when it was part of the Soviet Union, but the family left when she was eight.

Katie said: ‘We left when the civil war started, then we moved to Belfast during The Troubles, so I’ve lived in war-torn countries for much of my life.’

Tamara Melua, the star’s 73-year-old great aunt, said: ‘Luckily, in our family we are so far all right: shaken and confused, but so far safe.

‘But for how long we will stay safe, I don’t know.’