It seemed like the worst possible scenario happened in just a matter of hours for Ukrainians. As soon as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the country’s invasion — or “special military operation” — of Ukraine on Feb. 24, explosions were immediately heard across the Eastern European country.

“My aunt and uncle live in Kyiv — Ukraine’s capital. They woke up today at 6 a.m. from the noise of [missiles] flying near the strikes. [The Russians] were shelling the Boryspil airport,” Anna Tumanian, 29, told The Jakarta Post that day.

Anna is a Ukrainian freelancer living in Bali who, like several other expatriates, flew out of her homeland to get away from the approaching war — which, for the last couple of months, had seemed more and more likely to happen.

“There was information about the war in group chats and public pages, they have talked about the attack on Ukraine [since] the end of May last year,” Anna recalled. She has been living in Bali since then.

Like many Ukrainians, Anna knew that this issue had been brewing for quite a while. Her parents left Ukraine for Washington D.C. when the tension started in 2014 following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the armed conflict in the Donbas region.

“It was obvious to me that since the war that has been going on since Feb. 20, 2014, Russia was gaining new strength and [they were] preparing for a new blow. It was only a matter of time before they carried out their plan to take over our territory,” she said.

Popular

Magnitude 6.5 earthquake strikes off Java island: authorities

Philippines to endure extreme heat until mid-May

Indonesia one step from Olympics after beating South Korea