PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – From the safe harbor of Portsmouth, Virginia, 19-month-old Maya speaks a little Ukrainian.
“She said that you (Regina Mobley) are beautiful,” translated her aunt Tania Skorokhod. Maya also speaks a little English. She can say bye-bye, hello, Boo, the family dog’s name, and monkey. Interestingly, she doesn’t know the Ukrainian word for monkey.
The toddler was 8-months-old when Russia invaded Ukraine. The toddler, her extended family and her neighbors were forced to live in a basement during the invasion.
Happiness in her new Portsmouth home is tempered. Over the past year, 10 on Your Side took viewers along as Tania, who graduated from Old Dominion University, set out on a journey to rescue family members.
Tania woke Friday morning to learn her grandparents’ home, five miles from the front line, narrowly escaped destruction. But neighboring homes and her neighbor did not survive.
“Today it was like really bad; a lot of houses were destroyed and they said that one the guys – he lived in my village – he was like 40-years-old, he got killed today,” Skorokhod said. He was in his backyard doing some kind of work and it (a weapon) just hit straight to his yard and killed him immediately.”
Rescue workers climb by ladder as they clear the rubble of the residential building which was destroyed by a Russian rocket in Pokrovsk, Ukraine, Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2023. According to local authorities 2 people were killed and 12 injured (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Just a few years ago, the extended family posed for a series of portraits that display what their life was like in their waterfront community in Kherson. The grandparents refused to leave the place they call home.
Skorokhod wakes every morning and heads to Ukrainian news sites to learn whether her parents made it through the night.
“They were shelling from tanks; it could be a long distance; they were shelling from a tank and they destroyed at least four houses near my grandparents- so her neighbor’s house -the roof is gone and her neighbor’s house has been shelled three times,” said Skorokhod.
As this infamous anniversary approaches, Putin’s ragged army is expected to launch a punishing blow on anyone in his path. With that dreaded date looming, Tania’s aunt, who is also taking refuge in Portsmouth, is considering a dangerous mission to rescue the grandparents.
“They are constantly bombing and shelling like every day,” Skorokhod said, “It’s so crazy for me. It’s civilian people who’s there. You don’t have any military bases there. (It’s) like my grandparents and their friends. It’s regular people.”
