The Russian invasion of Ukraine.Photo: ANDREY BORODULIN/AFP via Getty
Boichak, a sociologist, is based in Australia but speaks with her grandparents each day. “She’s going through the daily trauma of rediscovering that war has begun, and keeps trying to evacuate,” she told theTimes.
Boichak wrote about the situation on Twitter, sharing how her grandmother has been in a “never-ending loop for 41 days straight.”
“Grandpa’s keeping the keys in a safe place,” she wrote.
Another woman, Liza Vovchenko, told theTimeshow her 82-year-old grandmother kept attempting to take her daily walks to the market for weeks after the war broke out — despite the streets being unsafe and the market being long-closed.
“Her normal routine was impacted, and people like her really need routine in their lives,” Vovchenko, who lives in Paris, said of her grandmother in a Russian-occupied town in Southern Ukraine.
Others, however, have not managed to flee:96-year-old Boris Romantschenko, who lived through four Nazi concentration camps, was killed last month when Russians shelled his apartment building in the city of Kharkiv, according to the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation.
Russia’sattack on Ukrainecontinues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
Mariupol, Ukraine, in the wake of an attack during the Russian invasion.EyePress News/Shutterstock
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
