SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Today Ukraine is celebrating its independence day and the 6-month mark of when Russia first invaded.
When Russia first invaded Ukraine there was hope the conflict would end soon. Now 6 months later on Ukraine’s Independence Day.
“We are kind of at a point where I don’t know when this is going to end,” Makayla Romanov said.
Makayla Romanov and Alla Kureninova…
“It almost seems surreal to say that Ukraine has an Independence Day because we have not been free and safe for the last 6 months,”
… Both say the last 6 months have felt like years.
“Our son is growing up, my son crawls now, pulls himself up on things, I won’t be surprised if he is walking soon,” Romanov said.
Romanov came to the US to have her baby in January. Her husband Vlad is on the front line and has yet to meet their son in person.
“I feel like I have been chased out of my home, where I am supposed to be, that I’ve been separated from my husband, who is the love of my life,” Romanov said.
The last time KELOLAND News spoke with Kureninova, her family was in Ukraine, hiding from the war.
“I can tell that.. the war in Ukraine has also in a way disconnected me from my friends and family, but in a really big way reunited me again with my family,” Kureninova said.
Now her sisters and children are here in Sioux Falls, but her parents remain in Ukraine.
“Realizing just how hard it is for them, I can only imagine. Little kids without dads and my sisters without their husbands… they’re torn, torn to pieces,” Kureninova said.
There is not much either family can do, but both tell me they know that Ukraine will win this fight.
“I can tell you with the start of the war, all of us Ukrainians, the ones here in the US, the ones in other countries but also the ones in Ukraine, have never been more proud.. and more in love with our country and our people and how united and together we feel right now,” Kureninova said.
President Zelensky says a Russian rocket strike has killed 15 and wounded several others during an Independence Day celebration.
