Yuri Safonov has been helping move more than a hundred orphan children out of Kyiv, Ukraine.
These children are from Sumy City and Sumy Region Orphanages.
Safonov and his colleagues have been coordinating getting the children to Poland as fast as possible, many dealing with dire situations along the way.
“They went to this refugee camp, and there were 1,400 people in this hotel,” said Safonov. “600 orphans [and] not enough adults so, it’s crazy.”
Safonov has also been traveling with his wife and baby, driving day and night headed to the Western border. They’ve taken several detours and stayed in bomb shelters.
“The drive that usually takes three and a half hours took us 14 hours. There is no gas available in the gas stations. If people don’t have food, good luck,” Safonov added.
According to the United Nations, more than two million people have fled Ukraine so far. One million of them are said to be children and thousands are orphans.
Yuliya Kozhushanova and her husband Dmitriy co-own Dance Life Houston in Montrose. Kozhushanova’s grandmother is in Mariupol. They haven’t been able to get in contact with her since the attacks began.
“We heard a bomb on the other phone line and after that, the next day, they didn’t call back,” they said.” We tried calling, and that’s the last time we heard from them.”
The couple also has family in Portugal who are shipping supplies directly to refugees in Poland.
Dance Life Houston will host group lessons on Thursdays and Fridays. All the money from sales those days will be donated to help refugees.