A Ukrainian woman who fled to New York spoke about the horrors of the war she experienced

Natalya Voloshina, before leaving her homeland, went through several difficult moments in a bomb shelter in her homeland, says New York Daily News.

“Rockets. There were air strikes throughout the night,” recalls the 64-year-old woman. She was interviewed through translator Maksim Sopink on March 19, just a week after she arrived in Yonkers, New York.

Voloshina was hospitalized with a heart attack three days before the start of the Russian invasion on 24 February. In early March, a woman endured a gruesome six-day journey to escape the war-torn Ukraine, eventually she managed to get to friends in New York.

Natalia endured a 21-hour train ride from her hometown of Dnipro, a 6-hour minivan ride from Lviv to Warsaw, Poland, and finally a 9,5-hour flight from Poland to Newark International Airport, New Jersey. The minivan picked up Voloshin and several others after delivering combat helmets and medical supplies to Ukraine.

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“I am very grateful for everything,” she said after entering the US on a tourist visa. “I am grateful to America for helping Ukraine and to the soldiers who defend Ukraine… I am happy that I was able to leave.”

According to Voloshina, she waited seven hours to board a crowded train in Dnipro to Lviv. Passengers brought their own food and were forced to sleep sitting up, she said.

“It was very slow because there were so many people there,” she recalls. – Instead of four people, there were 10 to 12 people on each bench. Every woman had a child in her arms… The authorities urged all Ukrainian women and children to leave the cities under attack.”

Son and grandson of Natalia remained in Ukraine

When we were in Poland, "we rested for a couple of days" before heading to the US, she said. Voloshina had previously been to New York and expressed her gratitude that her visa was sufficient to return.

Voloshina's departure from her homeland was not without family fuss. She left behind her 41-year-old son and 21-year-old grandson. She worries that they may be drafted into the armed forces to defend their homeland.

“They have a lot of soldiers, so my son and grandson are not needed yet,” she said. “But things can change.”

Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, more than 3 million people have fled the country - with more than half moving to Poland. Most of the rest, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, landed in neighboring Eastern European countries.

Although few have found new homes in the US, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Joe Biden administration is working with European governments and aid organizations to provide safe haven for Ukrainians.

Voloshina, who arrived in New Jersey on March 11, said she was following the crisis in her homeland on TV and talking to family and friends still in Ukraine.

“They already bombed everything there,” she said. – Airport in Dnipro, some other cities nearby.”