RICHMOND, Va. -- Ruslana Remennikova fondly remembers her father Michael Ramennikov, a former sergeant in the Ukrainian Army who fled the Ukrainian portion of the Soviet Union in 1990 with his family.
"I was two," Remennikova said. "Thanks to my father and his courage to flee from a Communistic regime we are able to be here."
The refugees ended up in Petersburg where the Jewish synagogue taught them English and helped her parents find jobs.
"My whole family, we were grateful for donations and hand-me-downs," Remennikova said.
Remennikova lived the American dream, graduating from Colonial Heights High School and VCU.
Her beloved father suddenly died from a heart attack in 2016, but she never forgot his mantra: "always remember who you are".
"I was born there, it's still my home, I have ties to it, it's just so sad my people are so loving and peaceful and innocent, this is obviously a power move," Remennikova said while fighting back tears.
RELATED: Ukrainians fear as invasion closes in: 'I don't want to die'
Remennikova knew a day might come when Russia would invade her birthplace, but now that it happened, she is in shock.
"Russia is bombing Ukrainian airports and military bases as we speak," she said. "For what, for what?"
She said friends in Ukraine are sharing videos of what is happening and she can feel their fear.
"We are seeing a lot of coverage on TV right now, but it is nothing compared to the tragedy these people are feeling, waking up to just fear, and not knowing what is going on," she said.
Her only hope now is that sharing the Ukrainian story will somehow bring about peace instead of a bigger war.
"It's difficult for me to say we need to fight, we need to do this, get NATO involved because I care about the peace of the whole world, and I think this is where we are on a very sensitive space where we are like should we get involved or not," Remennikova said.
She said she was talking to a Ukrainian friend who lives in Prague who said "I didn't realize Americans were supporting us this much, and it meant so much to him that we were at least reaching out, and talking about it in our state saying how this is complete bulls***."
