Dori: Local woman born in Ukraine calls Russian attacks on children ‘a new kind of sick’

News from her Ukrainian aunts, uncles, and cousins caught in Russia’s invasion of her homeland alternately grip Covington resident Kristina Soltys in “a whirlwind” of fear and ethnic pride.

But it was her anger that spilled over on The Dori Monson Show when she described her family’s stories about Russian attacks targeting locations with Ukrainian children.

Learning of the initial invasion “shook me more than I expected – far more than I expected,” Soltys told Dori and his listeners Monday.

Born and raised in Ukraine before moving to the United States when she was 5 years old, Soltys still has close ties with her extended family in eastern Europe. She described some family members hunkering down in windowless bathrooms for protection – and others fighting from the ground.

Not long after the initial assaults, Russian attacks soon “got dirty” and “inhumane,” Soltys said, her voice catching as she fought through emotions.

“When you want to take a country, invade. Take their industrial zones, take what you need — the big things. I can almost understand that,” Soltys continued. “But when you start attacking pediatric oncology units, child care, hospitals, big high-rise residential zones – that is sick. That is a new kind of sick. You don’t do that. You don’t touch the children in any war.”

While many in the West have called Ukrainians “strong” and “brave,” Soltys wants Americans to understand their depth of “kindness.”

“I am getting my information straight from there,” she said. “Regularly, I am hearing about Ukrainian citizens who are feeding Russian soldiers – not killing them. Many Russian soldiers say, ‘We didn’t understand where we were coming.’ So many of them didn’t understand the mission. (Russian leaders) took their cell phones away.”

Meanwhile, Soltys told Dori’s listeners that she is getting reports about “missiles going into space” without hurting civilians or destroying buildings.

This, her family tells her, is when they “feel the support from everyone’s prayers,” Soltys said.

“Call it a miracle,” she said, “but please keep praying.”

Listen to Dori’s entire interview with a Ukrainian-American Covington woman’s war stories from her homeland:

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.