Some Nashville residents who emigrated from Ukraine have been in shock watching Russia’s ongoing invasion of the country. Ukrainian officials say more than 100 people have been killed and that more than 1,000 have been injured.
Resident Alex Koval told WPLN News that knowing Russian troops are on the ground of his home country is hard to process.
Koval last visited in 2018 but has been unable to return because of the pandemic. He was planning a trip to Ukraine with his fiancée this summer.
“We never saw the military invasion like this,” said Koval, who moved to the U.S. in 2002. “We’ve been hearing about this, but everybody couldn’t believe that something like this could happen in the 21st century.”
Koval says he’s been regularly checking in with his family through video calls throughout the invasion, which began last week. His dad, who’s been on the fence about whether to stay or go, is planning to leave Ukraine. The goal is for him to enter Germany.
“He’s not in a major city like Kyiv or Kharkiv. They’re about two and a half hours southwest of Kyiv,” Koval said. “There has been some rocket fire outside the city, but no major trouble inside.”
Koval says his mom, however, has decided to stay in the country.
“I offered for her to go to Poland and try to make her way to me,” Koval said. “She has a U.S. visa, but she decided to stay because of my brother and her grandkids. My brother can’t leave, so she’s staying with them.”
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM