2 Ukrainian refugees arrive in Philadelphia; will stay at local church
"We came by airplane from Warsaw. It took us nine hours to fly, and we were crying during the flight."
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Two Ukrainian refugees arrived in Philadelphia's Northern Liberties section this week.
"We came by airplane from Warsaw. It took us nine hours to fly, and we were crying during the flight. We were asking this continent, this peaceful continent, to let us fly and come and stay for a while," said Alla Pukhtetska, a Ukrainian refugee.
The two women, who are professors in Kyiv, arrived to the United States around midnight Wednesday. First, they managed to escape Kyiv and make it to Warsaw, Poland, where they say they were sleeping in a McDonald's.
The refugee women walked much of the 450 miles from Kyiv to Warsaw to escape bombardment and were granted visas to enter the US by the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw, according to officials with Saint Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church, where they will be staying.
"There's bombing in Kyiv, it's really very deep emotion. I don't want to cry, but it is very difficult to resist," said Pukhtetska.
A local church connection brought them to the states, where they are now sleeping at the rectory of Saint Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church.
The two women don't have much more with them than the clothes on their backs.
They will soon be joined by more refugees at the church.
The two women are certainly very thankful to be here, but they say their hearts do go out to everyone still in Ukraine.
