KYIV, Ukraine — Olga Tsoi has lived in America for more than a decade but was born and raised in Ukraine. She returned to Kyiv for a knee surgery and to stay with her mother. And as tensions grew, she stayed.
Tsoi – a social media influencer – has been sharing her experiences on Instagram stories @echo_mass. She is a sister-in-law to KARE11 anchor Lauren Leamanczyk and gave KARE permission to share her stories.
As the invasion began, she posted a story saying, “Hi guys. I am currently in Kyiv, Ukraine. As you probably have already seen on the news Russia has attacked Ukraine this morning. I haven’t slept all night. Just trying to figure out what to do.”
She said she had missed an opportunity to return to Chicago but was relieved in a sense to be with family.
“People who decided to leave Kyiv are pretty much stuck in traffic, and, to be honest, I think I’ll feel much safer just being at home,” she said in an Instagram video.
In other stories, she posted videos as she and her mother headed underground to bomb shelters in train stations for two consecutive nights. People young and old huddled inside waiting for news of potential strikes.
“We were just told that there’s going to be an attack from the air and we need to seek shelter immediately so I’m currently in a subway station that is fully open,” she said as they walked inside rolling a suitcase.
She reported hearing two loud blasts.
Meanwhile, citizens brought what small weapons they could. Tsoi’s mother brought an ax. A neighbor carried a bag with a hammer inside.
Tsoi is concerned about disinformation from the Russian government which is claiming it’s invasion is to defend Russian speaking Ukrainians.
Tsoi and her family are Russian speakers. “I am from the part of the country that speaks Russian fully, my mom, my whole family. I think in Russian. It’s just that nobody wants war.”
In a separate post, refuting Putin’s claims and calling Russia the aggressor. “I am Ukrainian. I was born in Kherson in the south of Ukraine. Russian is my first language. I learned Ukrainian when I was 5. We have never felt like we weren’t Ukrainian enough. We were never discriminated against for speaking Russian. Ukrainian nation is peaceful. People just want to live their lives.”
Over three days of Instagram stories, Tsoi pleaded with people to demonstrate in support of Ukraine, to send aid and for the international community to do more.
On multiple occasions she and her family sought shelter because of reports of possible air strikes.
But she says the Ukrainian people will persevere and fight. Posting Friday:
“This is insane. People are scared. But like I said everyone is staying calm and it’s so admirable. I know deep inside we just want to sit down and cry. But there is no time for that. Our army is risking their lives every second to protect us. We can’t let them down by panicking.”