Love and war
She’s Ukrainian. He’s Russian. This Sugar Land couple is a reminder of bonds that can’t be broken by conflict
Natalia and Vasili Borissov don’t sleep much now.
It might be easier if their only worry was for the well-being of their five children, ages 14, 5, 4, 2 and 3 months, but the Russian invasion on Ukraine has added a mountain of stress.
With the millions of families impacted by the war, their story isn’t unique. Yet, theirs is a love story bound by family and country.
She’s Ukrainian. He’s Russian. Their children are a beautiful blend of both and a reminder that there are bonds that can’t be broken even during war.
Natalia is often awake around 3 a.m. at their Sugar Land home, trying to reach her family in Ukraine through Whatsapp or Skype. There’s an eight-hour time difference.
She’s worried about her father, who is firm on not leaving the family home where they have a farm. He enlisted in the military and was first turned away because of his age and medical condition. On Wednesday, he was called into service. He’s determined to stand by his country against the Russian invasion, in which some 200,000 troops rushed the Ukrainian border.
“My dad won’t leave, and I understand that,” Natalia, 35, said. “He said if he feels that the Russian soldiers are getting too close to our village, he’ll leave, but he wants to protect his country. It’s our family, our land.”
The couple never imagined that their native lands would be embroiled in conflict. They say their people, most of them, are about love, not war.
“We pray that God will protect our family and surround them with people who have love in their hearts,” said Vasili, who has family in Russia and Ukraine — some he hasn’t been able to reach.
Natalia was born and raised in Ukraine. She desperately wanted to see the world, so when she finished college, her father sold a few cows to get the money to pay for her airline ticket to America. She arrived at just 21 with only $300 and a job opportunity to work at Moody Gardens in Galveston through an international program.
Her roommate was also Ukrainian, which made the transition to a new country smoother.
They later moved to Houston, where Natalia worked as a nanny to a Russian family and then took a job at a Galleria-area restaurant, which is where she met Vasili. A professional tennis coach, Vasili, 37, came to the U.S. with his family from Russia at age 10. His father worked as a nuclear physicist who taught at the University of Maryland, then transferred to the University of Houston. His mother is an engineer.
Vasili was a competitive tennis player who found in Houston a community of teens, like him, who loved the sport. He turned pro and has developed a career nurturing players, including Jonathan and Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church, and nationally ranked junior players.
In 2014, Vasili stopped in for lunch at the restaurant where Natalia worked and recognized her accent. He spoke Russian to her, she responded with an accent even better than his.
They were married six months later.
“We are both family-oriented,” Vasili said.
At their Sugar Land home, CNN coverage of the war plays on a big-screen television in the family room. The couple also scours YouTube and other channels to get updates. The room is filled with pink doll houses and toys, a football chair and roller skates.
Their boxer-pit mix, Zeus, climbs into the chair and goes to sleep, while their children play happily. They don’t know everything that’s happening in the world, and that’s probably best.
Natalia praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a former actor/comedian and winner of the Ukrainian “Dancing with the Stars,” for being “a normal person who cares about people more than politics.”
Both Vasili and Natalia know that without social-media apps and cable TV, they would be even more disconnected from their families. On calls, they’ve overheard military raids and learned about bombings of hospitals and other public facilities in Ukraine.
“This is real,” Natalia said. “We watch TV, but it’s also coming from my friends and family. A lot of them stayed to volunteer to help. People need food and transportation. They need medicine. I wish I could do more.”
Vasili said he wanted to join the front line of a refugee-rescue mission, but Natalia would never let him go. He has found a way to help through Lakewood Church, where the family attends service. The church is proving funds and partnering with organizations such as Project Hope, Convoy of Hope and Samaritans Purse, as well as several Ukrainian churches to help people in Ukraine.
The United Nations now reports that some 2 million people have fled Ukraine, which has a population of 44 million people. Russian has a population of 141 million.
“The people of Russia love the people of Ukraine. The people of Ukraine love the people of Russia. We are the same,” Vasili said. “We are one, but you don’t go about it like this. Not like this.”