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Nearly 1 million Ukrainians have fled. More than 40 million have stayed — for now
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Before the war, Ukrainian Rehina Solodovnik tutored Russian students online. The teaching has stopped, but she's still getting text messages. "I am so sorry for our government," one student said.
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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
More than 1 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since Russia invaded. Still, more than 40 million remain in Ukraine, wrestling with decisions on whether to stay or leave. NPR's Greg Myre spoke with one of them
GREG MYRE, BYLINE: Before Russia invaded, 20-year-old Regina Solidovnik (ph) described her life in the river city of Dnipro as idyllic.
REGINA SOLIDOVNIK: Before everything happened, I believe I had the best life possible. I would say that. I have a loving family, my grandma, my aunts, my parents. My baby brother was born last year. And I have a part-time job as an English tutor.
MYRE: Some of those she tutored were Russians who connected with her long distance online. When the war broke out, her teaching stopped, but she's still getting text messages from the Russians.
SOLIDOVNIK: I remember this message clearly. This girl said, I am so sorry for our government. Like, I know they won't apologize to you for whatever damage they're doing to your country, but I will instead. And that made me cry, to be honest.
MYRE: When I spoke with her a few days ago, Solidovnik said she was staying in Dnipro, which had not been hit by the fighting. Still, her bags were packed just in case. Solidovnik is also a student. She's in her final semester at a local university, where she studies linguistics and speaks seven languages
SOLIDOVNIK: Ukrainian, obviously, Russian, English. I used to take German classes at school, Spanish and Chinese at the university and Korean as well.
MYRE: One of her teachers at the university is American Michael Samson. He's a professor at St. John's University in New York. Sampson arrived in Ukraine last fall to spend a year as a Fulbright scholar. With war looming, he left in January, relocating to Warsaw, Poland. The university asked if he wanted to keep teaching students online.
MICHAEL SAMPSON: I said, sure. Even if one person is there, I'd be glad to talk to her, because what I found out is that my role was almost as a counselor now, just talking to people, letting them talk and get their frustrations out, their fears out.
MYRE: Sampson is married to a Ukrainian, Alona (ph), who's 47. She grew up in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union and therefore speaks Russian and has an understanding of Russia. But younger Ukrainians, those born after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 and Ukraine became an independent country, feel no such connection to Russia.
SAMPSON: I would say the younger kids are anti-Russian. I asked 25 people, should I study Ukrainian or Russian? And 100% - all 25 - said, study Ukrainian.
MYRE: Sampson says he's not surprised at how fiercely the Ukrainians are resisting Russia's invasion.
SAMPSON: They were determined to protect their country. They'll pick up. They'll take up arms.
MYRE: Regina Solidovnik was among those determined to stay in her home city, though she acknowledged the stress.
SOLIDOVNIK: I'm just glued to the screen watching the news 24/7. And this is exhausting me in so many ways.
MYRE: Then on Friday, she awoke to the news that the Russians had attacked and seized the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant less than a hundred miles to the south of her home. She decided to leave. As of Saturday evening, she was traveling in western Ukraine, heading to the border with Poland. Michael Sampson was waiting to greet her. Greg Myre, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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