ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Kateryna, who doesn’t want to use her last name for privacy reasons, is trying to catch her breath after weeks of waiting by the phone.

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The family is from Chernihiv, near the Russia border. Her parents and brother were still there when the war began.

“I would be waiting for the message, ‘We’re alive,’” Kateryna said. “I would talk apouliswith my father on the phone and he would say, ‘OK, I need to go hide in the hallway.”

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She said her parents didn’t want to leave at first, because her brother has muscular dystrophy.

But eventually, Kateryna said they no longer had a choice.

“At 5 a.m., my brother texted me that they’re driving,” she said. “At that moment, I stopped breathing because I know that area is so dangerous.”

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She said there was a missile strike while they were trying to get out, but they somehow made it to another city in Ukraine.

Still, they’re not out of the woods yet.

“They have nowhere to live, nowhere to go,” Kateryna said. “Random people we’ve never seen (who) they met on their way, they gave them a little room for a few days.”

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Kateryna said she is continuing to wait by the phone, just to hear their voices and make sure they have food, water and shelter.

President Joe Biden is gearing up for a summit with all 30 NATO leaders in the hopes of de-escalating the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Russia attacks Ukraine: What you need to know Ukraine urged caution after Russia announced withdrawal from the city of Kherson. (NCD)

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