Help Ukraine Refugee Larissa with food & shelter

(photo: 2005, downtown Kiev at Independence Square.  Larissa on right, daughter Vica on left)

My name is Jerome Fleg. I'm raising funds food/shelter/relocating for 75 year old Larissa Lipnitskaya who is a refugee fleeing the war in Ukraine. All money raised will be sent by her daughter Vica Boersma directly to Larissa.  Larissa is currently staying in Tyachiv (small town in western Ukraine on the border with Romania). Funds WILL be used for food, shelter, relocating, or legal immigration costs. Funds will NOT be used in any way towards fighting, weapons, or defense funds.

 

My nieghbor Vica Boersma is Ukranian and has been frantically trying to get her mom Larissa to safety since the Russian invasion of Ukraine Feb 24, 2022. Larissa fled her home of 48 years in Kiev (Svyatoshyns'kyi District, west side of Kiev).  Larissa is currently staying at the home of a kind  stranger who opened their home to refugees in Tyachiv, Ukraine.  She is one of four adults who all sleep in one room on cots/gym mat/pull-out couch. Larissa doesn't have a bank account, her passport is expired, and she is unable to access her $75/month pension she used to retrieve in person in Kiev.

 

Here is Larissa's story...

 

Larissa worked as an editor for a book company for approximately 30 years in Kiev. She is single with 2 adult kids who left Ukraine for opportunities abroad - including my neighbor Vica (Larissa's daughter). Larissa had a simple, happy, retired life - she received $75 cash/month that she would pick up in-person at the pension office.  She had her own humble two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor; she lived there for 48 years (and raised her two kids there).

 

After the war broke out, she stayed in Kiev as long as she could. She and two other retiree female friends all had apartments on the same floor. They comforted each other and spent multiple nights sleeping in the bomb shelters down the road as the air raid sirens wailed. Things became unbearable when she saw bombings about 15 miles away from her apartment window. The sky turned black with smoke, and they had already destroyed Borodynka (10 miles away) with bombing & shelling.   More recently, an apartment building that is a three minute walk away was heavily shelled and on fire.  Her two friends who also lived on the 5th floor had already left Kiev. Vica and her brother were unable to get to Ukraine to rescue Larissa because Vica is in USA and her brother in Dubai.

 

Eventually, Vica's brother's childhood friends were able to take Larissa out of Kiev by car on March 7. She had to leave so suddenly that all she had time to grab was a bag with two sweaters and medication. The sweater in the photo is one of those sweaters. It took them four days of travel - they had to take back roads very carefully because all the main roads have been bombed. The family friends dropped her off at the Romania border and had to continue on their separate way.

 

Larissa is currently in Tyachiv (small town in western Ukraine on the border with Romania).  She is far enough from bombings at the moment until she figures out where to go next.

 

All funds raised go directly to Larissa to help her with food/shelter and her "next steps." No funds will be used for fighting, defense or anything violent. Vica is exploring options of bringing her to the USA - if this becomes possible, the funds may be used for these legal expenses.