Former Miss Ukraine describes escape from Kyiv, asks for aid

A former Miss Ukraine winner on Tuesday described her journey with her young son to escape Kyiv and her homeland as Russian troops invaded the country last month and called on countries to do more to arm her countrymen and womenVeronika Didusenko who was crowned Miss Ukraine in 2018 said she and her 7yearold son were awoken on the first day of the invasion to the sounds of air raid sirens and explosions and they joined thousands of others on the road to evacuateOn my journey to the border of Ukraine there was no place where sirens would not sound where rockets and bombs would not explode she saidDidusenko told her story at a news conference in the Los Angeles office of womens rights attorney Gloria Allred who said she became friends with the former beauty queen several months agoDidusenko and her son eventually made it to Moldova and travelled through other European countries before reaching Geneva Switzerland Didusenko said she made the heartbreaking decision to leave her son there to travel to the United States to hold the press conference with AllredDidusenko dressed in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag said she and Allred decided the situation on the ground in parts of her homeland was an important story to highlight on International Womens DayRight now millions of Ukrainian children and their mothers are trembling at every sound in the subway stations and bomb shelters Even more heartbreaking that women are giving birth in such conditions in these shelters Didusenko saidShe said her request to get a visa for her son to travel to the US has been rejected She plans to return to Geneva this weekend to reunite with him Allred said she was hoping US officials would relax visa policies to allow more Ukrainians to travel hereDidusenko said Ukrainians are committed to defending their country but need more help from other nationsUkrainians absolutely have the courage to defend their land and homes but in order to stop the endless attack from the east and north they are in desperate need of weapons and ammunition We will fight for our freedom and yoursThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever