ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — More people are fleeing Ukraine as the war with Russia continues. According to the U.N., more than 2 million Ukrainians have sought shelter elsewhere. This week, at least two of them made their way to the sunshine state.
Our NBC affiliate WESH 2 News reported Tanya Savchynska and her toddler arrived in Orlando from western Ukraine, with their family incomplete. Savchynska had to leave behind her husband among other family members.
Ukrainian male citizens between ages 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country in order to potentially fight in the war.
“It’s hard for me to feel like everything’s okay because my husband’s still back in Ukraine, our parents in Ukraine and many of our friends,” Savchynska told WESH.
Leaving the Ukraine hasn’t been an easy process. Russians have trapped some looking to flee inside cities where supplies including food and water are running low. The western part of the country has not seen the type of destruction the eastern half has, but the threat remains throughout the entire country.
“In Ukraine, there’s no safe place to go,” Savchynska said to WESH.
Savchynska told our affiliate she doesn’t know when they might return to Ukraine, but the many signs of support for Ukraine in her neighborhood and beyond has given her hope that they will.
