More than a dozen members of a youth shelter in northern Ukraine have been safely evacuated.
The shelter, Jeremiah’s Hope, is in a village north of Kyiv, in the impoverished Chernobyl Zone.
It was founded by Andrew Kelly, who lived in Ukraine for nearly 20 years. He moved to Abilene last year.
Despite the distance, Kelly’s kept close tabs on what was happening at the shelter, and in the village it’s in.
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“It was to the point where it was pretty dicey. It was either they left or they were going end up being occupied within the near future,” Kelly said.
The kids and staff spent 17 days in and out of a root cellar that has been turned into a bomb shelter.
“The kids were in the root cellar feeling the walls of the root cellar shake underground,” Kelly said.
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With Russian forces closing in, Kelly said staff spent the last week looking for a chance to flee.
Their first two attempts, he said, were called off because it was too risky.
“Twice in the past week, other villagers in our community have attempted to evacuate. One couple was actually shot and killed in their car and another car was blown up by an RPG,” Kelly said.
Sunday, just before dawn, they made a third attempt during a lull in distant shelling and gunfire.
Packed in a van with the Russian word for 'children' spelled out in duct tape, the 10 kids, three staff members and one American missionary made a daring escape.
About 12 hours later, Kelly's phone rang.
“I just burst into tears. I knew what the call was about and the fact that he was calling meant they were alive and could break radio silence,” Kelly recalled.
They're now at a refugee shelter in western Ukraine, trying to leave the country as soon as possible.
At least 85 children have been killed since the invasion began, according to a Ukrainian official.
