Former Miss Ukraine describes escape from Kyiv, asks for support

A former Miss Ukraine winner on Tuesday described her journey together with her younger son to flee Kyiv and her homeland as Russian troops invaded the nation final month, and known as on nations to do extra to arm her countrymen and girls.

Veronika Didusenko, who was topped Miss Ukraine in 2018, mentioned she and her 7-year-old son had been awoken on the primary day of the invasion to the sounds of air raid sirens and explosions, they usually joined 1000’s of others on the highway to evacuate.

“On my … journey to the border of Ukraine, there was no place where sirens would not sound, where rockets and bombs would not explode,” she mentioned.

Didusenko instructed her story at a information convention within the Los Angeles workplace of ladies’s rights legal professional Gloria Allred, who mentioned she grew to become pals with the previous magnificence queen a number of months in the past.

Didusenko and her son ultimately made it to Moldova and travelled by means of different European nations earlier than reaching Geneva, Switzerland. Didusenko mentioned she made the “heartbreaking” determination to go away her son there to journey to the United States to carry the press convention with Allred.

Didusenko, dressed within the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag, mentioned she and Allred determined the state of affairs on the bottom in elements of her homeland was an necessary story to spotlight on International Women’s Day.

“Right now, millions of Ukrainian children and their mothers are trembling at every sound in the subway stations and bomb shelters. Even more heartbreaking that women are giving birth in such conditions in these shelters,” Didusenko mentioned.

She mentioned her request to get a visa for her son to journey to the US has been rejected. She plans to return to Geneva this weekend to reunite with him. Allred mentioned she hoped US officers would calm down visa insurance policies to permit extra Ukrainians to journey right here.

Didusenko mentioned Ukrainians are dedicated to defending their nation, however want extra assist from different nations.

“Ukrainians absolutely have the courage to defend their land and homes, but in order to stop the endless attack from the east and north, they are in desperate need of weapons and ammunition. We will fight for our freedom and yours.”