GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids woman is sharing her Ukrainian family's scary and nerve-wracking journey to escape the country.
Anush Jones was born in Armenia, but lived in Ukraine since she was 4.
"My dad started all over when the Soviet Union collapsed. We migrated to Ukraine to start all over," Jones said.
Now 30 years later, her mom and dad, who are in their 50s, have to start all over again.
They waited until the last hour to leave their hometown of Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine with Jones' 26-year-old sister.
"My family, they were holding out. [Thinking], okay, maybe this will calm down. There will be peace talks, but when it really got this bad, they decided to choose life over everything else."
With only backpacks, they left all of their possessions, friends and work, and took a 30-hour train ride to Lviv.
"The 40 kilometer convoy was marching towards Kyiv," Jones said. "I was a nervous wreck because I couldn't get ahold of them so I wasn't sure if the train will pass through the Kyiv normal, or if they make it safely."
They did make it safely. According to her sister, it was a heartbreaking sight to see children telling their parents they wanted to go home.
They then rode a bus to Poland where they remain at a refugee camp. Volunteers have been providing clothes, food and their homes as shelter.
Jones said the war has been terrifying, but the world's kindness has been encouraging.
"The prayers got heard and they got out safely which that's all that matters. We're taking one day at a time to figure out what to do next. They're out of gunshots and out of attacks," Jones said.
She hopes the United States will accept refugees so she can take care of her family here until the war ends.
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