Sabrina, a former model from Ukraine, who is currently living in Mumbai, is afraid she might never see her home or family again following Russia’s war on Ukraine. “I left in January, and I don’t know when, or if, I will meet my family again…” says Sabrina, who is from Kherson, a small city in the south of Ukraine. She came to India in January for business and to meet her friends, and was planning to return home next week. However, as she spoke to us on Friday – a day after Russia invaded Ukraine – she said that her return is the last thing on her mind right now.
“I am still in a state of shock. I have been watching the news, where one can see heart-wrenching visuals from different parts of Ukraine. It shakes me each time I watch them. I am living a nightmare and praying for my family every minute. The only thing I am thankful for right now is that they still have an internet connection and I can keep in touch with them,” says Sabrina, as she breaks down in tears.
Sabrina spoke to her parents and her sister, who stays in a different city that’s close to her hometown, on Thursday. “My family was too panicked to even talk. They woke up to the sound of bomb blasts and for my city and its people, it is something they never imagined in their lives. Kherson is known to be a very peaceful and quiet city. My family and others are locked up in their homes. Like Kyiv, Kherson is not a big city and people do not have basements where they can hide, so the only option is to stay indoors and pray for their safety.”
She continues, “Leaving their homes or travelling to any other city is not safe… in fact, I don’t know if there is any safe place in Ukraine right now. There is also limited stock of food and people have already started hoarding whatever they can. I am trying to stay connected with my family and I just keep praying that some miracle happens and all this stops.” She adds that since yesterday, the only thought running through her mind has been – ‘how can this happen to us?’. “While Russia was always a looming threat, I never imagined they would actually invade Ukraine, without a thought to how many lives would be lost,” she says.
Sabrina, whose immediate family comprises five sisters, parents and grandparents, says that to not be with them at this time is heartbreaking. “I do not know if I should be happy or sad that I am in India, because my family is still there. I don’t know what will happen next, so all I can do is pray for their safety and hope everyone else sends them prayers too,” says Sabrina.
