Utahns say their family’s city is under attack in Ukraine

From the moment word got out of a Russian attack on Ukraine, Alia Tukhtarova Herrod has been reaching out to her family every few hours.

Herrod was born and raised in Kharkiv, Ukraine, a large city on the east side of the country just miles from the Russian border. She and her son Niles were there just last April.

This is Alia and Niles Herrod in her hometown of Kharkiv #Ukraine last year. I spoke to them tonight. They’re feeling helpless in Utah while that city is under attack. Her parents are there and she hasn’t been able to reach her sister in Kyiv. @KSL5TV pic.twitter.com/uHDBi9OKxx

— Matt Rascon (@MattRasconNews) February 26, 2022

But on Friday, she was in a panic while the city was under attack.

This is Alia and Niles Herrod in her hometown of Kharkiv #Ukraine last year. I spoke to them tonight. They’re feeling helpless in Utah while that city is under attack. Her parents are there and she hasn’t been able to reach her sister in Kyiv.

“Now they’re getting bombed. The city is just getting bombed. She could hear explosions,” Herrod said. “I mean, complete shock. Disbelief that it’s actually happening.”

Her father is in an assisted living facility. Her mom lives in the same apartment where Herrod grew up. But she’s immobile.

“I realized my mom is just locked in. She can’t go out. I don’t know what happened to my dad. I was just panicking.”

Herrod has been able to talk to her mom off and on over the last few days. But she has not had any communication with her sister who lives in the capitol Kyiv.

In an interview with KSL on Friday, Herrod criticized President Vladmir Putin’s invasion and the reasons he’s given for it. She stressed that Ukraine is a free country and doesn’t need saving by Russia.

“Just the misinformation is driving me crazy. Like the Russians believe all this. That it’s somehow justified?! I mean, there’s no threat,” she said.

Her son Niles grew up visiting Ukraine. He’s concerned about his grandparents. But he also worries about his friends across the border in Russia, where he served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“There are a lot of Russians that don’t want this,” Niles said.

“We almost feel helpless in a way. Like we’re just worried we can’t do anything. We want to do something so bad.”

So far, Niles and his mom say President Joe Biden’s sanctions don’t go far enough. They said one of the best things Utah could do for Ukraine right now is to show their support.