‘I just want to see my parents again... it’s hell’
A Troon mum from Ukraine says she is going through hell as her parents are trapped in a city under siege.
Olga (Drover) Grechukha has watched on in horror as her hometown of Mariupol was battered by waves of Russian attacks.
Her mum and dad, now separated, are living in fear as they cower in their homes away from the carnage unfolding in the streets of the port city which has been completely surrounded by Russian troops.
Olga has told how she frantically tries to make contact with her parents but airstrikes have shattered all communication lines with no electricity and no power available in the stricken city.
The 39-year-old, who is studying to become a nurse, is desperate to see mum Olga, 64, a hairdresser, and dad Yuri, 63, who worked in the port of Ayrshire.
But now she prays every day that they will be granted a safe route out.
Mum-of-two Olga told the Post :“I am going through hell.
“The day I see my parents again is going to be the happiest day of my life.
“It is like going through a bereavement. “I have never had my immediate family die – I hope everyone will be safe.
“I hear on the news what area has been shelled. I am looking at maps all the time trying to work things out, I just want to be able to hear their voice.
“It is very painful to see my country being destroyed.
“I have kind of got used to the fact we are being demoralised. I am watching it on TV all the time.
“I hope Ukrainian people are standing strong, I want to make sure they heal from the trauma and bring some joy to their lives.”
Olga’s contact with her parents has been so limited she has had to rely on friends to report back that they are safe with the city in chaos.
Olga said:“I have no contact with them- they don’t have electricity so they can’t charge their phone.
“My mum has to turn her phone off to save the battery.
“They don’t have electricity in the house for heating.
“I am not sure if they are able to cook for themselves.
“I have contact with one friend – she was able to use her mobile internet.
“The situation is dire, there are little places with private housing which were shelled, lots of people came to the city to find shelter.
“Lots of old people, kids, children and their mums are homeless and have nowhere to go - some women are pregnant.
“A lot of people have died – I can’t imagine what the hospitals will be like.”
Olga lived in Mariupol till she was 18 and moved to Troon in 2010 where she now lives with her husband Kenton Drover, 39, and their two boys aged three and seven.
She now hopes she can bring over her mum and dad but her parents are determined not to leave.
Olga added:“It is really difficult.
“I am a bit emotionally more unstable, probably more so than my parents.
“My parents grew up during the Soviet Union - they are resilient and want to stay.
“I was begging my mum to move and she doesn’t want to, but the town is also blocked and there is no possible way she could leave.
“Every time she speaks to me she doesn’t tell me any details, she is trying to protect me. She is a very tough woman.”