[CofR]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Will update my wife's situation.

Spoiler!

Things have taken a turn for the worse. There is now fighting within her village with Russian soldiers shootings at residence. Today some brave piece of #### Russian soldier decided to shoot her 25 year old female friend for reasons unknown. Such a brave act. ####ers. There is a large shell/mortar crater hole a couple meters from her apartment.

They now have a 7th person in their single room apartment, as her step-dad's daughter showed up. Last night my wife slept on the floor by the door, as it was away from the windows and a small place of refuge. She cannot even fathom leaving the country, making her way to Poland where I am, or moving to Canada like we are supposed to do in 2 months. All she can think of is survival. 100% of her attention is focused on that. She has stopped crying. She has run out of tears and says she is physically unable to do so. She needs all her attention focused on living from hour to hour. I told her I will cry for her instead (which I occasionally do, and I am NOT a crier), and to save her power.

In my first OP I had mentioned how I was completely against this trip months ago, as the build up was ongoing since November and things escalating by the week. After days and nights of arguing with each other as her departure day approached, it was her parent's who kind of tipped her over the edge to come visit. They would send her texts of the Russian propaganda news, such as the troops are being withdrawn, Putin doesn't want to invade, all western hysteria, etc. I would counter with news sources showing the opposite. Propaganda is a real thing. And it worked in much of Ukraine.

Today she told me that her Mom apologized to me and showed so much remorse and guilt over asking my wife to come. She cries everyday about it. I'll admit, when this first started I was upset at her parents for ignoring the warning signs and not telling her to not risk it. All they had to do was say now is not a safe time to come. But they are such a close-nit family. I told her Mom that it's in the past and I forgive her. Feeling shame and guilt about it only takes away from your strength reserves and you will need it to get past this. Don't torture yourself. I know why you did it. It was for love and if you had truly known this would happen, you would have prevented it.

Kharkov is being destroyed as we speak. Bombs and gunfire are now happening in her village. These truly are the most terrifying days for her and her family. They are praying they live to see another day. Wife and I told each other we will do our best to avoid the news today. We agreed we don't need the news, since she is living the news right now.

Your updates are so powerful and appreciated. I can’t wait for you and your Wife to get home to Canada and be safe. Your posts really make me feel appreciative of being Canadian, it drives home how privileged we are here in Canada