BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — An 82-year-old mother faced a long journey escaping the invasion of Russia in Ukraine to get to her family in Buffalo.
It took Stefania Lemeshivska almost two weeks to arrive in America.
Her daughter, Alexandra Savka, says her mother injured her right arm during the journey.
"Everybody tried to be on the train or tried to be the first one to protect kids, and somebody pushed her, and it happened during her journey," says Alexandra Savka translating for her mother, Stefania Lemeshivska.
Savka says her mother left many family members behind, including her son, who stood behind to fight in Ukraine.
"The most sensitive and emotional part was a little girl asked her if Russian people are going to kill her and she said we don't want Russian to be in our territory and nobody understands why this has happened to Ukrainian people," says Alexandra Savka translating for her mother, Stefania Lemeshivska.
Savka says when her mother arrived at the Poland border, the officials there found a way to contact Savka through social media.
"And when I hear phone calls asking if it's my mom in Poland and I knew war start they didn't know my mom so they couldn't find her and there was a lot of people involved to find out where is my mom," Savka says.
After traveling hours and days to Poland, Savka's mom finally had the chance to take a plane and arrive safely in Buffalo in the arms of her family.
"It's very important now to fight against Putin, and she's proud of Ukrainian people," says Alexandra Savka translating for her mother, Stefania Lemeshivska.
Savka says she hopes many would see the urgency in stopping the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, before the rest of the world also faces Putin.
"He's mentally ill, and we have to do this as soon as possible because now Ukrainian people are protecting not just own country, Europe, and the whole world," Savka says. "Because for Putin, it's not just about Ukraine. It's about controlling the whole world."
