COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's evening in Ukraine and Natasha Robinov, a Columbia woman, is finally getting a chance to speak to her brother Victor Zlatoustov.
The connection has been shaky since the Russians invaded, a source of pain for Robinov.
"I couldn’t reach him," Robinov said. "I didn’t even know if he’s alive or not, tell you the truth, and I just don’t know what’s going to happen with my brother, and I don’t know if he’s eating or not.”
From his shelter in Ukraine, Zlatoustov spoke to News19 with his sister as his translator.
"The world does not have no idea what they’ve gotten into with Putin. What kind of things he’s doing," Zlatoustov said. "They constantly sending bombs to the city and there’s shootings.”
The 47-year-old worked as a web designer in Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv before being forced to flee his home for safety.
We asked him, "Why not leave the nation?"
“He said that he loves his country and this is his home," Robinov said.
Men of a working age are also required to stay and fight.
"These people, they’re stuck," Robinov said.
The challenge to get food and other resources is growing by the day within parts of the country, Zlatoustov said.
"There’s a bombing," Zlatoustov said. "So, there’s no way for them to escape and get something to eat.”
Their only hope now is that Russian President Vladimir Putin will stop the carnage and the world's effort to slow the invasion will prevail.
"I would like Mr. Putin… to suffer himself," Robinov said. "I never feel that I hate anyone, but I feel that I hate him right now…. because my brother is scared right now and he doesn’t know what to do.”