[ad_1]
Before Russia’s war in Ukraine began a year ago, Olena Gnes was a YouTube vlogger and tour guide in Kyiv.
For Gnes, his passion is helping people from all over the world discover Ukraine.
Then, on February 24, 2022, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine and Gnes fled to a makeshift bomb shelter with her three children, the youngest four months old.
Meanwhile, Gnes’ husband enlists as a volunteer with the Territorial Defense Force to help defend his country.
As thousands fled Ukraine, Gnes stayed to tell the world what had happened. He began speaking to the media from a bomb shelter. First interview with CBC Rosemary Barton Live it was March, only 11 days to the war.
With the first anniversary of the Russian invasion looming, Gnes was interviewed again by Rosemary Barton Live — this time, Gnes said from the US, where her family moved in November.
“At that time, the situation was very intense,” Gnes, 36, said on Sunday, recalling the early days of the war. “The Russian tanks moved towards my house. The bomb fell on my house and it was a shock.”
Gnes spent the night at the shelter, only returning to her apartment quickly to shower or find food for her children. In a few days, he wasn’t sure if he would survive the night.
How war affected his children
Gnes and his family are now safe in the US, living with a host family in Georgia. He said several factors contributed to his decision to leave Ukraine in November.
“My wife was demobilized, and my children, their mental health was really bad. In September, I saw that they were traumatized by the war.”
WATCH | Olena Gnes spoke in March 2022 about her husband when she and their children were in a Ukrainian bomb shelter:
CBC political correspondent Rosemary Barton talks to Olena Gnes about life in a bomb shelter and how difficult it is for her husband to be fighting in the war in Ukraine.
Gnes said her children – Katya, 8, Taras, 6 and Daryna, 1 – are in therapy and are still afraid of loud noises.
He said the children built bomb shelters under their beds because they couldn’t believe the war was over and it would never happen in the US.
“They lost faith in humanity.”
Help Ukrainians survive the winter
In recent weeks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged the United Nations Security Council to take action against Russia over airstrikes on civilian infrastructure that have left Ukrainian cities dark and cold.
Even while living in the US, Gnes tried to help those who remained in Ukraine. He is an ambassador for the United Nations Foundation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which launched a campaign to buy generators, rechargeable lights and power stations to help Ukrainians survive the winter.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “was weaponizing the future. He hit the critical infrastructure. He wanted to attack my country to be in complete darkness and only to freeze to death,” according to Gnes.
As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine approaches, Gnes remains optimistic about his country’s future.
“I am determined. I still believe that Ukraine will win,” he said. But he also wondered how long it would be before that happened.
[ad_2]
Source link