Islanders with ties to Ukraine fear for loved ones amid Russian invasion

Oleg Bebeshko's mother-in-law is one of the thousands of Ukrainians hiding underground in Kyiv's subway system, as a barrage of explosions strike the capital city — part of an invasion by Russian forces.

Bebeshko and his family live on the Island now, but some of the family still lives in Ukraine.

Just a few minutes before being interviewed by CBC's Island Morning, Bebeshko had been in touch with his mother-in-law.  He said hours earlier, she had heard sirens and made her way underground into the subway-turned-bomb shelter. 

"She's staying there now, in the underground because the underground doesn't rock," Bebeshko said. 

"She's worried. She's nervous. But she is getting used to the situation because previously we had a tough time in Donetsk, in 2014 and 2015."

That's when fighters in the country's eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk started seizing government buildings and later declared independence from Ukraine.

Bebeshko is one of many Islanders with connections to Ukraine and Russia. Everyone is watching what is going on there nervously.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a televised address Thursday morning. Then the Russian military invaded Ukraine by air, land, and sea in the biggest attack on a European state since the Second World War.

"Lots of civilians are dying now," Bebeshko said. "Women. Kids. Civilians."

People from the region who live on P.E.I. are planning to show their support for Ukraine at an event this weekend in Charlottetown. Organizers are still working out the details of the event. 

Tatiana Mizerina is involved, and is originally from Russia but has been living on the Island since 2014. 

She doesn't want people to think that all Russians support this action.

"People don't have enemies. It's only the politics," Mizerina said. "It's nothing to do with the normal people."

She said many Islanders who come from different countries have said they would like to support Ukraine.