GREENSBORO, N.C. — Galina Sokolsky, a Greensboro woman originally from Ukraine, said her sister and niece living in Ukraine are now safe.
News 2 originally spoke with Sokolsky in February after Russia invaded Ukraine. She was concerned for her sister Lena and niece Veronika in war-torn Kharkiv.
"They showed me from their window on the sixth floor and I saw the bombs just kind of in the far distance, but you could see them," Sokolsky said in February. "It was early in the morning, the sky was so red. It wasn’t red because of the sun coming up but it was just red because of the fire everywhere."
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Sokolsky said her daughter helped Lena and Veronika find a driver to get out of Kharkiv as Russia continued to attack the city, the second-largest in Ukraine.
"They were afraid to go but I said it's more dangerous to stay, at least you have a 50/50 chance to get out and stay alive," said Sokolsky.
They traveled for days, from two Lviv, Ukraine, then to Poland, now they are in Germany. Sokolsky said her hometown of Kharkiv is in ruins.
"It just breaks my heart to see people in this kind of situation especially in my city Kharkiv," Sokolsky said.
Sokolsky hopes she can eventually bring her niece and sister to Greensboro. She and her sister haven't seen one another in 30 years.
"It’s a relief to me because I know that they are okay," said Sokolsky. "It would be wonderful to have my sister here."
She is currently working with a lawyer to figure out how they can come to the United States. There is also a GoFundMe to help Lena and Veronika.