SAN ANTONIO — A Ukrainian woman, in the heart of the conflict, joined the fight and spoke to KENS 5 about her home turning into a battlefield.
The 40 minute conversation took place over Zoom. Oksana Horbach was with her military unit and couldn't show much of her location for security reasons. She stood up near a wall during the entire time.
"I mean it is very painful to watch," she said.
Horbach lives in Kyiv, which is the capital of Ukraine. She said she was left with a choice: fight or flight.
"No, I am not going anywhere. I am staying in my city doing whatever I can to protect it. Nothing provoked for the things happening right now in Ukraine. And people dying, children dying and women and men. It is very difficult."
No longer a civilian, Horbach signed up to join the Armed Forces the very next day after the invasion.
"I went to the commanding officer of this military unit, and I told him I am a really good manager," she said. I can help you. If you want me to organize things. I can get things done."
She provides medical supplies, and really anything that service members need.
"I am taking care of servicemen and servicewomen in this military unit," she said. I am taking care of their needs, medical, military, personal, hygienic, everything. And I feel like I am really providing good care for them. If they need to get it delivered during the air strike, I will get it delivered during the air strike. I really don't care. I am just going to get it done."
She's so close to the terror.
"The first day of war was the worst day of my life," she said. "You can hear all the blasts. You can hear the rockets, the air strikes and the shootings."
On just Tuesday of this week, she barely escaped a Russian air strike that hit a TV tower killed people.
"I had been there in that exact location maybe ten minutes before the strike," she said. So, I wasn't really there. But it was really close."
Horbach also had a message to Americans. She said helping out a 'little' can mean so much. She encourages Americans to get involved in the issues. She said use social media to tag lawmakers and the president to provide aid. She also said Americans can help spread the Ukrainian message through rallies, and to help financially. But, of course you have to make sure you know where your money is going.
While, the end of the way is unclear---for Horbach---one thing is clear, she and her fellow Ukrainians are all in.
"We will survive. We will thrive. And we will win," she said.