Bethlehem residents Phil and Eileen Gentile have a special interest in the events unfolding in Ukraine. The ties they have to the battle ravaged country date back to 2011 when they first met Nalya.

Nalya is a young lady in her early 20s living in Kyiv. She did not want to disclose her last name or current address but did agree to share her experiences through Google translate and her close friends, the Gentiles. She speaks little to no English and presents that fierce Ukrainian spirit and determination that almost borders on stubbornness.

The Gentiles became acquainted with Nelya as part of a summer hosting program called New Horizons for Children. An acquaintance of theirs was hosting Nelya and during the course of that five weeks they got to know her very well and got very close to her. After she left the U.S and returned to the orphanage in Ukraine, Phil says, “we did our best to keep in touch with her, and in fact as part of our wedding we asked our guests to donate socks in lieu of gifts. We collected 1,200 pairs of socks and then shipped them to her orphanage in the Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine”.

As Nalya grew up and out of the orphanage, she and her brother, Vadim, gradually made their way to live with distant relatives in Kyiv. Concerns for her safety increased when the Russian troops first invaded in 2014 and took over Crimea and supported the separatists in the eastern region of Ukraine. This was made worse in 2021 when Russia began to amass troops along the borders of Ukraine. Eileen states

“We were very much concerned about the situation especially since she lived in the capital,” Eileen says. “Despite our questioning she continued to maintain the position that the Ukrainians have been through this before and Russia will not invade.”

Nalya expressed concern for her brother who now lives in the Eastern region of the Ukraine because of the current Russian invasion.

The Gentiles have given her repeated advice that she should get out of Ukraine if not move to the western part of the country and specifically to the city of Lviv. Phil reports, “She has resisted these attempts (to get out) despite other people that we know offering to arrange pickup and potential transport to the Polish border,” Phil says. Nalya continues to insist that she will stay in Ukraine because she cannot leave her brother and family behind. She continues to hold the line that they will fight the Russians to the end.

Despite her protestations, her American friends continue to remind her of the dangers and the likely result of increased Russian aggression and her being caught behind enemy lines.

The Gentiles report that communication has been through social media and it’s been fairly reliable up to this point. Their concern has been that if the Russians knock out the Internet and or the power, it will be next to impossible for them to reach her.

“We have put her in touch with friends of ours and other people we know in Latvia so that perhaps they can stay in touch directly by phone and text message,” Phil says. “We honestly don’t know how long we’re going to be able to maintain connection with her because if the Russians overrun the capital, she will be behind enemy lines and it’ll be nearly impossible to get her out or to even communicate with her.

“We pray every day that she and her family will remain safe,” Phil continues. “ We pray that the situation ends soon without much more damage but are very concerned that because Putin feels disgraced he will level the country.”

New Horizons for children, the organization through which the Gentiles first met Nelya, has boots on the ground at the Polish border waiting to assist children at the border. Currently Nalya needs food, she needs money and she needs safety.

Asked how they feel about Russia, the Gentiles are very clear.

“I think it’s clear that we have little regard for Putin,” Elieen says. “He is a monster and evil to the core and has no compunction about sending people to their death or destroying entire cultures simply to appease his ego, including the Russian people. With regard to the Russian people themselves we have very high regard for their sense of right and wrong in their culture we see this specific situation clearly as ego driven for Putin’s own personal gain; he is nothing more than a bully.”

Next week – Pending communication - Nalya’s story continues -friends in Latvia