Ukrainian refugee in Iowa shares her story ahead of one-year mark of Russian invasion
By Kayla James
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DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — Alina Poznanska is a mother of two. She and her children are Ukrainian refugees calling Iowa home for now. She is sharing what her country is going through a year since the Russian invasion.
Poznanska’s husband had to stay in Ukraine, but she is hopeful she and her kids will be able to reunite with him soon.
Poznanska says she didn’t want to believe Russia would start a war. Just hours after troops invaded, she called her mom who lives 15 miles from the Russian border.
“She told me that, ‘I’m in the basement and there are hundreds of tanks who just moved through our village,'” Poznanska said.
Poznanska’s husband convinced her to take the kids to Iowa, where she had stayed as part of an exchange program in 2009. Her host, Carol, opened her home once again.
Poznanska is working to educate people about Ukraine, speaking to a room of people on Thursday night, answering questions.
“I can be the voice of my country,” Poznanska said. “We have to prove again that we’re an independent nation. That we’re fighting for this democracy and for independence.”
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