HOUSTON – The Ukrainian immigrants who spoke to KPRC2′s Deven Clarke said Russia, the largest country in the world, is ganging up on Ukraine, which is about the size of Texas.
They said it’s all because of its democratic progressions.
“They’re very scared,” said Dasha Dashutina who migrated from Ukraine to Houston more than a decade ago.
She’s now terrified for her father and other loved ones who are trying to escape their hometown of Kharkiv, the closest major city to the Russian border.
“There are so many people just freaking out, just trying to take money from the ATM and trying to leave,” Dashutina said.
She said her family hasn’t been able to leave because gas stations have run dry and infrastructures have been bombed by the Russian government. On top of that, she said communication is limited because phone lines and internet connections were affected.
“I can hear a couple of words from him, but we cannot have a full, clear conversation, so at the moment, I know they are hiding with thousands and thousands of Ukrainians inside the subway, actually under the ground,” Dashutina said.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is fueled by claims of genocide and incursion, which Michael Balahutrak who heads the Ukrainian-American Cultural Club, says are not true.
“How could you imagine a weak country with not a very strong military attacking a big powerful nuclear-armed opponent? I mean, that doesn’t make sense. That doesn’t even compute,” Balahutrak said.
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Balahutrak said the recent attacks mark the peak of tensions that had been brewing because of neighboring countries’ progressions.
“Since 1991 when the Soviet Union fell apart, whether it’s Ukraine or Poland, all these countries have economically done much better than Russia has,” Balahutrak said.
The beefs in Eastern Europe are now being felt in Houston.
“I just never felt so hopeless in my life,” Dashutina said.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who was in Ukraine this week, issued a statement condemning the attacks, calling the war brutal and illegal.
