While images of brutal death and destruction in the Ukrainian town of Bucha have been seared into history, Olena Samoylenko has a very different memory of her home — one of an idyllic, nature-blessed community that was a perfect place to raise a family.
"It's devastating. We never expected this tiny town to be involved in this kind of conflict," said Samoylenko, who is one of several hundred Ukrainians to have fled their homeland and traveled to Japan. More than 6 million people have left the Eastern European nation so far.
The 33-year-old, together with her 9-year-old daughter Ivanna, left her home in Vorzel, a small town on the outskirts of Kyiv and just a 10-minute drive from Bucha, on Feb. 24, the day Russia began its invasion. Her husband remains in the country as men between the ages of 18 and 60 have been banned from leaving.