What It's Like On The Ground In Ukraine

On Feb. 24, Russia launched a war against Ukraine after months of rising tensions and warnings from Western countries about a potential invasion. 25-year-old Ukrainian Alina Khrapach is one of more than 2 million people who had to leave their homes. She spoke to theSkimm about her experience living through the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Alina Khrapach: The first night was the worst night in my life. We heard missiles flying over the building. Windows were shaking. We were hiding in basements. I was terrified and I knew that I cannot stay there because Kiev was going to be a hotspot. So I left.

One of my friends. She called me saying that the war has just started. I remember how my hands started to shake.

I saw huge lines in pharmacies and grocery stores. People were told to leave Kiev if they have a chance. I took only a few hoodies, documents, and money. Uber stopped working. It was a total mess. Everyone was trying to leave.

Now, my days are all the same. Actually, there are no more days of the week. We are not thinking about getting money, earning money right now. All we need is peace.

Ukrainians, they don't deserve to die this way in their homeland, Ukrainian kids; they don't deserve to be born in bomb shelters. Ukrainians deserve your help and support. I'm begging you to start doing something you can help us with right now.