DALLAS — Natalka Yaschenko spoke with WFAA from her bathroom in western Ukraine. She is careful to not leave any house lights on during curfew.
Yaschenko is staying with her 11-year-old son and 73-year-old father.
In her home country, there are images of families hiding in basements and bunkers and homes and apartments reduced to rubble.
"Every time I leave the house I'm thinking, what if I can't come back?" said Yaschenko.
Yaschenko told WFAA she lived in Los Angeles for twenty years and just arrived in Ukraine in early February with her 11-year-old son.
"My son, my golden California boy, was basically on the floor staying with me... that broke my heart," she said.
The family left the capital of Kyiv for western Ukraine as the ground-fighting started. A normally four-hour drive was 17 hours long because the bridge was taken and destroyed. Fuel is in limited supply and Yaschenko waited more than two hours to get twenty liters.
"I was staying in traffic for three hours like standstill, I couldn't leave the city," she said.
Yaschenko told WFAA that it is not so bad where she is currently living. The ground-fighting and sirens and bombings are heavily prevalent in eastern Ukraine and Kyiv. Even still, they are sleeping fully dressed -- what little sleep they get.
She says the bags are packed by the door just in case they have to leave immediately.
"Do you know how much time it takes from the moment you got siren to the time your house can be impacted? Sixty seconds, can you try to leave to your house in 60 seconds?" she asked.
Yaschenko said every waking moment is about living in the now and setting aside any past differences. She and many around there have found solidarity in having Russian President Vladimir Putin as "number one enemy."
"I'm scared but I am so proud of my nation, you can't even imagine," she said.
Yaschenko is trying to get her son to the Romanian border in hopes his father, who is traveling from the United States, can get him.