Photo by Kamryn Bailey | The Independent Florida Alligator
Source| The Independent Florida Alligator
By Claire Grunewald
After losing everything when her home of Luhansk, Ukraine, was occupied by pro-Russian separatists in 2014, Natalia Pluzhnyk moved to Severodonetsk, Ukraine. There, she worked on the front lines of the war in eastern Ukraine as a volunteer — all while being terrified Russia would try to seize her home again.
To ensure the safety of her teenage daughter and provide her with an opportunity to attend college, she moved to Gainesville in 2017.
“I didn’t see any prospects of a safe future,” Pluzhnyk said.
Pluzhnyk, now a 47-year-old Gainesville resident, has witnessed all three cities where she lived in Ukraine — Luhansk, Severoddonetsk and her hometown Bakhmut — be destroyed in 2022.
For many Americans, Feb. 24 is the date the war between Russia and Ukraine began. However, for Ukrainians, this date is only a reminder of conflict that’s gone on for nine years.
Even thousands of miles away, Pluzhnyk fears for the state of her home country one year after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but she has found support and comfort from fellow Gainesville residents, she said.