Effects of Russian Invasion

Although Liza hasn’t been in Ukraine in 12 years, she still has some connections in the country while the war is going on. When the war and the invasion started, it was a very heartbreaking thing for her and her family to go through. Her first concern was for her parents, grandmother and brother. 

Fortunately, the US had a program where you could sponsor a family that needed to get out of the country, and Liza used it to try to get her parents to the US. The program started in February, and she got all the paperwork done within 5 hours, saying she was one of the first to fill it all out. Her urgency worked as she was able to get her parents to the Boston area in March, and ended up staying for a couple of months, before living in retirement back in Ukraine. Her brother was not so lucky and was required to serve for Ukraine in the war. He is on the front lines of the conflict and he’s not allowed to leave the country. 

She had many other stories from life back home. People told her that missiles were flying over her hometown. Many of her male schoolmates and friends are serving in the Ukrainian Army. Her cousin is in East Ukraine, in the hot zones where there is active bombing. He’s told her that life will never be the same in the country. 

She feels as if there’s no easy answer to how the war is going to end. It’s interesting to compare it to the war right now between Israel and Palestine because they, too, are going through a similar conflict. She thinks Ukraine has enough military support to win, but that Russia will never give up in trying to control a part of Ukraine.