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President Joe Biden is urging US citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, as tensions with Russia continue to intensify due to the build-up of military forces on the border.
The US Embassy in Kiev has already asked them to consider leaving the country. Some American citizens living in Ukraine agree with the instruction, others do not. VOA correspondent Oksana Lihostova spoke with some of them.
John Uke, who ran a business in California, came to Ukraine a few years ago to look for computer technicians, but he never returned home.
With the growing Russian military presence near the Ukrainian border, his friends and relatives in the United States are concerned. They keep sending messages to get it back as soon as possible.
But Mr Uke says he likes Kiev and thinks the threat posed by Russian leader Vladimir Putin is exaggerated.
“I do not think Putin’s likely to win,” he said. “But even if it does, I think Ukrainians will be able to resist, because there are so many people here who are very patriotic,” said John Uke, an American living in Ukraine.
Mr. Uke adds that all of his American friends living there have made the same decision, to stay, and as he says, they are not too worried.
“I do not think he (Vladimir Putin) will bomb cities and kill civilians, because Ukraine has done him no harm, and it would be a disaster. “So I feel that the worst thing that could possibly happen to me is just to be without internet for a while,” he says.
But not everyone agrees. Joel Wasserman has been living in Kiev for several years. He teaches English. Recent developments have led him to relocate to the west of the country, to Lviv, until everything is over.
“I wanted to stay away from bombs, artillery shells or rockets. I’m not worried that this could happen soon, but I wanted to move early because it would make things a lot easier for me. That way I can get more out of my stuff, my cat; “and I would be sure to have a place waiting for me here in Lviv,” said Joel Wasserman, an American citizen living in Ukraine.
Former US Army doctor David Plaster has been living in Ukraine for the past decade. He often travels to the Donbas region where he works as a volunteer to teach soldiers tactical medicine in emergencies.
If Russia invades, Mr. Plaster says he will not leave, but instead he has joined the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces to defend Kiev if necessary, along with other residents of the city.
“I will not leave home, I live here. Yes, some of us have American, British, European passports, we can go to other countries. But why do this ?! “We have to stay where we live and show Putin and the whole world that we are not afraid,” said David Plaster, a US citizen living in Ukraine.
Many others, such as Mr. Plaster, who live in Kiev, share this view. American, Canadian, British citizens from Northern Ireland, Denmark and Germany recently took part in an international solidarity march to express support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.
“I have seen some embassies that have issued travel warnings. Others have removed non-essential staff or their families. “But this is my home, I live here, I will not go anywhere!” Said Paul Niland, an American citizen living in Ukraine.
“We are here to stay. “We have our businesses and families here, we will not go anywhere!”, Says John Shmorhun, an American citizen living in Ukraine./VOA/
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