WETHERSFIELD, Conn. — In the blink of an eye, Yulia Karpyuk's life changed. The city in Ukraine that she calls home, Ivano-Frankivsk, suddenly became too dangerous for her to stay there.
"The airport in our city got bombed and she heard the bombings and they got really scared so they prepared to leave for the mountains for one day. So she packed a small suitcase and then the next day more bombings happened, and it wasn't safe to go back home," said her brother, Taras Korzhak of Wethersfield.
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He opened the doors to his home in Wethersfield, for her and her 13-year-old daughter. She had to uproot their lives to find safety and with no choice but to leave her husband behind. But despite everything, she still calls herself one of the lucky ones knowing that those who have no choice but to stay, are facing much worse.
"I do not think about myself now because my story is one of the easier ones now every mother in Ukraine is an angel for their children," said Karpyuk.
She said mothers are being killed just trying to find water for their children and families, while cities are being destroyed.
"People who have been living peaceful lives in European cities have been dying every day now. Little kids and mothers and elderly people who have been living normal lives up until two weeks ago," said Korzhak.
As she tries to find a new sense of normalcy here in Connecticut, Karpyuk is staying connected to her life back home where she has a doctorate in psychology and works as a professor. She's getting ready to teach virtually when students begin remote learning next week.
"She wants to do it because she understands it's so important to keep going to make sure that students have an opportunity to still learn if it's peaceful in the cities where they are," Korzhak said.
Unsure of how long she'll have to stay here, she said her hope is to be able to go back soon, and that peace will also return to Ukraine.
"Every minute and every second of life I think that it can end already and I believe that it will end," Karpyuk said.
In addition to helping his own family, Korzhak is also part of the non-profit Maidan United which is collecting medical supplies to send to other families in Ukraine. You can find more information on their mission, here.
Gaby Molina is a reporter and anchor at FOX61 News. She can be reached at mmolina@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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