(NewsNation) — Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, more than 2 million civilians have fled the country, but not everyone is able to leave.
Victoria Fox is a mother of three and currently living in Florida. She’s been in the U.S. for about 20 years, but she’s originally from east Ukraine.
Her family is still in Irpin, just outside Kyiv, where there has been heavy fighting recently.
Her family has been living amid the conflict with Russia since 2014. They used to work at the Donetsk airport, but when it fell to separatists in 2014, they lost their jobs. They eventually lost their home too, becoming refugees in their own country.
Victoria’s mother is gravely ill and homebound, so her brother is staying behind to take care of her.
Right now he’s sheltering not only their mother, but neighbors, friends and family all in his house, between eight and 25 people at any given time.
At last check-in, they are all still doing alright despite a terrifying visit from the Russian military.
“Today, they’re OK,” Fox told NewsNation. “My house is not damaged. My brother is OK.”
That’s as good as the news gets for Fox, who receives sporadic updates from her brother on Viber, a messaging app.
“Today Russian soldiers came to his house,” she said. “It was very scary. They checked my brother to see if he’s not armed, that he’s a normal civilian taking care of mom, he couldn’t leave her behind.”
Victoria is a part of Pray For Ukraine, a Christian Facebook group offering prayers for the safety of Ukrainians.
“I was praising God, they didn’t do any harm to my family. They didn’t do anything. And my brother texted me and said they (were) actually scared themselves for what was happening.”
Fox says miracles are happening on the ground as bombs are failing to detonate, guns are misfiring and that God is looking over her family.
“My brother texted me yesterday,” she said. “‘I never felt a presence of God in all my life. I feel it. I’m good.’ He said, ‘Please don’t be afraid, God is with me.'”
He told me to “read Psalm 91 and have a peace. I mean, I was broke down. I’m worried about him, he’s trying to comfort me — all of us — here in America,” Fox said.
Victoria been following Ukrainian news on YouTube for updates.
NewsNation asked Victoria to pass along any pictures or video her brother may have taken of the destruction around Irpin. She said he hasn’t sent much at all since the fighting began, out of fear of retaliation.
According to her brother, Viber is being monitored by Russian forces and he fears if he sends anything that could be construed as anti-Russian, there might be repercussions for him and his family.
“It’s heartbreaking. I mean, my heart hurts for all Ukranian people,” she said. “It’s been very hard to watch it.”
She says she feels guilty for not being able to do more to help her family right now, but knows the real battle begins after the fighting stops.
“Hopefully this war will end tomorrow, she said. “I want it now. And we will have a lot of work to help to restore the lives of Ukrainian people.”