Home is more than just the place we lay our heads.
It’s where we come from and where identity is first formed.
So no matter how many years Yulia Lukyanchenko has lived in other places, Ukraine will always be home. And now, her home is a place under attack.
"It's almost like a bad dream. You wake up every morning. You still cannot believe there's a war going on in your country, in the middle of Europe, in the 21st century,” said Lukyanchenko.
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For the better part of the last decade, Lukyanchenko has lived in Dallas.
Most of her family, however, is still in her hometown of Rivne in western Ukraine.
Though bombs aren't falling yet, sirens go off every few hours.
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"These little girls have to wake up at night and go into shelter,” she said while swiping through photos from a recent visit home.
Putin’s army is getting closer. Friday morning, Russia fired missiles at Lviv, which is just four hours away.
"Now it shows to many people in western Ukraine that nowhere is safe. Any city can be targeted. Any place can be targeted. So of course, it's very scary,” said Lukyanchenko.
She said while Ukrainians in Ukraine and those abroad are grateful for all forms of support, there’s more she believes there’s more the international community can do.
“We have enough boots on the ground, but we are helpless when it comes to airstrikes. I know the international community is still very hesitant and resistant to sending fighter jets or getting involved in the war in Ukraine, but I think if nothing is done, in terms of protecting the Ukrainian sky, his war will escalate,” she said.
For now, her family and friends remain in Rivne, going to school and working to keep the economy going. Still, she said they’re prepared should they need to quickly leave.
"I think everyone in Ukraine is on standby right now,” said Lukyanchenko.
If that time comes, she said some may go to stay with her mom in Warsaw, Poland.
She said she’d love to open her doors in Dallas, either to family or other refugees.
In the meantime, she’s doing what she can to help and hoping that one day soon, she and her husband, their son, and the baby on the way, will again be able to visit home.
There are several DFW-based organizations and initiatives working to provide support both financially and spiritually and to get resources to Ukraine through donation drives and fundraisers for humanitarian relief.
