19-Year-Old Greek in Ukraine: “I am Afraid, I Don’t Want to Die”

A 19-year-old Greek woman living in Kyiv, Ukraine has described scenes of chaos following Russia’s attack on Thursday morning.

The woman who only gave her first name Nikki, has appealed for help through Greek Reporter saying that “she is really scared.”

“I want to live, I want peace,” she says. “They tell us not to panic and be calm but it’s very difficult. We do not know what will happen from one minute to the next,” Nikki says.

Greek woman does not want to leave home in Ukraine

She says that she woke up this morning from rocket attacks and blasts. She describes how the windows of apartments nearby have been shuttered from the sonic blast. She adds however she does not want to leave her home.

The Russian military released a statement Thursday claiming it was not targeting Ukrainian cities.

“The Russian Armed Forces are not launching any missile or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. High-precision weapons destroy military infrastructure: military airfields, aviation, air defense facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the statement read. “The civilian population is not at risk.”

However, reporters on the ground have reported explosions around Ukraine and outside of the Donbas region, where Putin announced a “special military operation” in the early hours of Thursday.

The city of Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, the epicenter of the Greek presence in the country, is under heavy bombardment from the Russian forces on Thursday.