Montrealer concerned for loved ones as hometown is destroyed in Ukraine

As the war in Ukraine continues, Montrealer Tetiana Skarzhanovska says that her loved ones there try to adjust to life amid war and she’s watching in disbelief as her hometown Zhytomyr is being destroyed.

“I still cannot believe it. I still cannot believe it is possible. I see the pictures, I see the buildings, I know them. It’s my streets, but it’s like a nightmare or a movie. I’m watching and I’ll wake up tomorrow and it’s not happening,” explained Skarzhanovska.

Roughly 120 kilometres from the Ukrainian capital, the hospital where Skarzhanovska was born and some private homes were destroyed by a Russian missile, minutes after signals rang out to head into bomb shelters. Many people are still under the debris.

“They’ve been trying to rescue people all night yesterday, and I know that today their operations continue because a lot of people are under the buildings. The building just crashed and people who were hiding in the bomb shelters are still there.”

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“It is very difficult. It’s sad. It changes… in a second. Everything changed in a second. One day you have a normal life and the second day you’re far from home,” said Alla Tkachenko, a Ukrainian resident.

Tkachenko is currently in the west of Ukraine, in the Lviv region after fleeing from the country’s capital when the invasion began. She says she and others don’t turn on lights in their homes after 7 p.m., as it may reveal their location and make them victims of potential Russian attacks.

Alla Tkachenko – Her and her family had to flee the capital to the Lviv region. (Photo courtesy: Tetiana Skarzhanovska)

Tkachenko told CityNews they’ve been in bomb shelters four times on Thursday alone.

“Danger is everywhere. People everywhere are not safe. There is no single safe place,” she explained. “They’re just bombing. They’re bombing everywhere, every city from every possible side. And a lot of civilians are dying. And we really want the whole world to know this truth, that it’s civilians now who really suffer.

“We are very strong and we are protecting our home, our earth, our land, our culture, our nation. But their army is enormous,” she added. “We are fighting very bravely, but we really need support in numbers, in people, in help.”