March 11, 2022 at 11:39 pm EST
APOPKA, Fla. — For weeks, Yulia Gerbut dismissed the rumors swirling around the streets of Kiev and warnings flying out of Washington. Ukraine would not be invaded, she said. There was nothing to worry about.
“Everybody was like, they are just threat and they’re just showing their weapons and troops of soldiers at the border,” she said, under the assumption Russian leaders were attempting to strengthen their hand at the negotiating table.
Three weeks later, Gerbut was not recalling her thoughts to friends at her favorite café. She was standing next to a tennis court in Apopka, Florida, after fleeing Kiev with her sons when the bombings began.
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