A former Miss Ukraine on Tuesday recounted her treacherous journey to flee her war-torn Japanese Europe nation along with her son — whereas begging the US to “shut the sky” and cease Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “terrorism.”
The 2018 magnificence queen, Veronika Didusenko, described the second Feb. 24 when she and her 7-year-old son have been “awaked by sirens and explosions” within the nation’s capital of Kyiv.
“In between raids, we — together with tens of 1000’s of households — tried to get out of the town,” she stated at a information convention in Los Angeles with ladies’s rights lawyer Gloria Allred.
The previous magnificence queen stated she drove to Ukraine’s western border, an excruciatingly sluggish course of, as 1000’s of automobiles created large visitors jams because the nation got here underneath Russian assault.
“Immediately above my head, dozens of helicopters with their troops have been bombing … As I used to be fleeing with my younger son, I might see there was an actual air battle above our head,” she stated.
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On the mom and son’s journey to the border, there was “no place the place sirens didn’t sound, the place rockets with bombs didn’t explode,” Didusenko stated.
“It was horrible, so many youngsters and moms simply attempting to get to the border. What’s extra violent in the intervening time, the Russian militaries typically stopped and shot harmless folks attempting to flee,” she continued.
Didusenko’s mom and grandparents are nonetheless in Kyiv. She and her son made it to Luxembourg after which Geneva, Switzerland, the place they have been staying with household.
She stated she fears Putin gained’t cease till he achieves the “eradication of all the things Ukrainian and Ukraine itself” and says requires extra assist coming from Ukrainians are “falling on deaf ears in Washington and Europe.
“Shut the skies over Ukraine,” she demanded, referencing the repeated name by Ukrainian officers for different international locations to institute a “no-fly zone” over Ukraine, which Putin stated would quantity to a declaration of world conflict. “Individuals are dying in shelters with no meals, no water, no gentle, no heat. It’s a tragedy. It’s terrorism.”
Didusenko was topped Miss Ukraine in 2018 however had her title stripped from her after pageant officers found she was divorced and had a baby, which apparently disqualified her from the competitors.
