The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Former Miss Connecticut got her mother out of Ukraine last week
GREENWICH — Like other Ukrainian Americans, Olga Litvinenko, who represented Connecticut in the 2017 Miss USA pageant, has been watching the news of her native land with horror and dread.
Litvinenko, a Greenwich resident who came to the United States from Kyiv as a child, has been glued to her phone.
“It’s been really stressful. We have family there, so we’re worried. Our great aunt, she’s not picking up the phone. Every minute that goes by, it gets more worrisome,” said Litvinenko, who currently runs a fragrance business.
Litvinenko was planning to visit Ukraine this winter, joining her mother, Tamara, who was already in the eastern European country this month. The plan was to reconnect with family in Ukraine. Their late father, Yuri Litvinenko, died in April of 2021, and he is buried in Kyiv, the capital city.
Then the clouds of war began to form in the east.
Her mother was able to leave Ukraine on Feb. 14 and return to their home in Greenwich before a Russian attack commenced this week. Tamara Litvinenko also brought back two rescue dogs from Ukraine, which complicated the paperwork for her journey.
“Luckily, we were able to get her on a flight,” her daughter said.
Russia launched a wide-ranging attack on Ukraine on Thursday, hitting cities and bases with airstrikes or shelling, as civilians piled into trains and cars to flee.
Litvinenko, a graduate of Greenwich High School and Syracuse University, has been keeping the news on “every minute, every second,” she said.
“We have family, we have friends, and we’re worried about everybody,” she said of the attack by Russian armed forces. “They’re going for Kyiv. Everybody’s nervous.”
Invading Russian forces closed in on Ukraine’s capital Friday. The assault, anticipated for weeks by the West, amounts to Europe’s largest ground conflict since World War II.
Litvinenko said she has been disturbed to hear from friends in Ukraine who are running out of food. But, Litvinenko said, she was impressed by the number of volunteers who “are on the ground and ready to fight” and the determination of the Ukrainian people.
“Very, very brave,” she said. “Yes, they’re proud, but simultaneously, nobody wants this. We all want peace. The Ukrainians want a peaceful independence, having their own country. It’s a devastating time, extremely stressful. And they’re fighting on their own.”
Litvinenko came to the U.S. after her parents won a Diversity Immigrant Visa, also known as the green card lottery. She’s now determined to help the country of her birth.
A Ukrainian support group, Razom, has been air-lifting supplies and medicine to Poland from New Jersey, destined for Ukraine. Litvinenko said she was planning to assist in the relief effort in coming days.
“What else could we do?” she said. “They could use the help. They certainly need it, but they’re not going to back down.”