Elina Svitolina is having a very difficult year overall with a foreign country invading her home where some of her family still reside.
I have so much pain in my heart seeing now how many cities destroyed and how many people young and old have lost their lives in one moment. They need help and I can be the one who can add a drop of help to the ocean for them.
It's not been all doom and gloom for the Ukrainian as she is currently pregnant with her first child but the timing of it all is bittersweet. Her grandmother is still back home in Odessa unable to leave the city and Svitolina hopes for nothing more than to be able to see her again. Svitolina's parents and brother managed to leave but her grandmother and her uncle and his family remain in Odessa.
It is tough for older people to get through another war. The deficit of food, staying at home or in a basement for days... for them it is extremely stressful and very, very tough mentally. I try to keep contact with her in Odessa and try and help her as much as I can. She was way too old to move.
Speaking further on the situation in Ukraine, Svitolina can't believe some of the things that she is hearing froms friends who have returned to the country and taken up arms. It's all too surreal for her.
A lot of my friends have come back and taken up weapons to defend the country. So many people are struggling right now that is why I feel like through (United24) we can do something that will help all Ukrainians and military and children who are in need. It is a small part to play that will hopefully make a difference.
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