Ukrainians in Omaha worry about family in hiding as Russia invades

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The past few hours have been daunting for Anna Yuz-Mosenkis.

She is from Kyiv, Ukraine, and moved to Omaha in the early ‘90s. She still has close family members living in Ukraine and has been reaching out to those living in the nation’s capital.

She was able to get in touch with her cousin — he was rushing to get to safety as Russia invaded Ukraine.

“He told me this morning as we were speaking that there were explosions going on not too far from where he was living,” Yuz-Mosenkis said. “The only place for them to hide was the subway. People have to run, it’s not very close by the house but takes some time to get to. The subways are already filled up with people it’s crowded.”

She said her cousin, along with countless others, packed small bags as they went into hiding in the subways. She said many don’t have access to food.

“Everybody, as I understand, has a little bag or a kit to go with the most important things in their lives. Probably a lot documents and pictures, what else people value the most,” she said.

Now, she’s unsure what the next steps are. She’s hoping her cousin can get to a safer area for the long term.

“I’m really, really hoping that at some point it will stop with diplomatic communications and exchanges and this horror should not continue,” she said.

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