Leander woman advocates for employees, family and friends in Ukraine
LEANDER, Texas - "I'm sorry, and we're really afraid, and I'm scared right now," said Halyna Shpuniar, as her eyes filled with tears.
Air raid sirens sounded as the 31-year-old conducted an interview with FOX 7 Austin Friday morning.
"We heard the sirens, we heard things. And right now I've got a message on my computer that our mayor, he's calling us to go to their shelters," she explained.
Moments later, Shpuniar packed her bags and sought shelter with her 8-year-old son. First, she frantically shared this message, "All the sanctions don't work. The enemy attacks us from everywhere. Ukrainians ask NATO to bring their persons to Ukraine, at least to close the sky to give shelter. Please cut Russia off from SWIFT. Now there are three countries who are denying us. This is Germany, France and Italy. Please help us."
Shpuniar lives in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city located in Western Ukraine.
Friday afternoon she contacted FOX 7 Austin confirming her family’s safety.
"I am really sorry that I couldn't finish our talk. We had to hide. Right now the situation is calm our planes have shot down the enemy plane next to the city," she wrote in an email.
Thursday the city’s airport was bombed.
"I live close to the airport and I heard all those bomb sounds and my windows were shaking of the sounds of their explosions. All the time we hear the sounds of the planes. We stack the bags. We stuck the windows with tape," she said.
Shpuniar is a teacher for the Bright Kids Ukrainian Online School.
"Could you ever believe that in the 21st century, people have to hide with their children in bomb shelters… in the center of Europe?" said Nadya Zhurba, the school’s founder.
Zhurba founded the school after she moved with her family from Western Ukraine to Leander, Texas, five years ago. It offers children living abroad opportunities to learn Ukrainian language and culture. The school employs 20 teachers, all based in Ukraine.
"To tell the truth, I feel hopeless because I would like to do more," said Zhurba, adding that parents have been contacting her to donate to their children's instructors.
Zhurba estimates half of the school's classes have been canceled since the war began.
"Some teachers have internet and some teachers don't right now. And some teachers were told to turn off the lights after 10 p.m. because it increases attack by missile strikes," she said.
One teacher who asked to remain anonymous told FOX 7 Austin "children, houses and hospitals. [Russian soldiers] are bombing everything. Even there's lots of videos. Russians shoot, shoot, shoot at the civilian guards."
Zhurba is from the Lviv region of Ukraine, near Poland. She has friends, employees and family "all over the country."
"It's very painful, but I know that they feel more frustrated there," she said.
Friday afternoon she video chatted her father, Mykola Zhurba, in front of FOX 7 Austin. He lives in Sasiv, a town in Lviv.
The 67-year-old has an American Visa.
"We told him to go, to come. But he doesn't, he doesn't want to do it," said Zhurba.
The family, she explained, offered to drive him to Poland and then fly with him to the United States.
"He said ‘Never, I will meet them here in my own house.’"
"He says that it's his duty to protect the country because he will never forgive himself for leaving. Because if he leaves, if we leave, who will protect the motherland?" Zhurba explained, translated for her father.
Moments before the call he signed up for his citizen guard, a group of neighbors organizing to fight off Russian soldiers.
He explained that young men were given weapons for combat, and older men, like himself, were given instructions to protect infrastructure from attack.
"He says that he lived his life, and now he wants for that for his children to live their life in Ukraine," said Zhurba.
Saturday at noon there is another rally at the Texas Capitol calling on world leaders to support Ukraine.
Zhurba, who is attending the rally, said it is a "terrible feeling" knowing that "your family is in real danger every moment."
"You feel helpless, and you don't know what can you do for them? So we can do, we can call on our representatives here in the states hoping for better support of Ukraine."
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