Ukrainian mum who fled to Alaska to survive Putin's war speaks out on Trump peace summit

A Ukrainian mother who fled with her two young children from the horrors of the Russian invasion said she hopes Vladimir Putin coming to the US city where she found sanctuary will "move forward" peace. Yuliia Maiba, 31, left Ukraine in 2023 with her twin girls Mariia and Zlata Maiba, now aged 8, and the family live just a few miles from where President Putin will meet President Trump in Alaska's largest city Anchorage on Friday to discuss a possible beginning of the end to the bloody conflict.

Ms Maiba, who works as a job readiness specialist at the New Chance Church Ukraine Relief Programme, lived in a tower block right in the firing line when Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. She and her two young girls lived in Irpin, a suburb of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which Russia forces tried to overrun at the very start of the conflict. The family's apartment block was just a few miles from another suburb called Bucha, where the UN has documented evidence of civilians being massacred by Kremlin forces. Ms Maiba's parents and 83-year-old grandmother are still living near the frontline in Kostiantynivka in the far eastern province of Donetsk.

Speaking to the Daily Express Ms Maiba said: "On the first night, we stayed in the basement of the 16-storey building where we used to live. We could hear explosions-likely in Hostomel and Bucha, though I didn't know for certain. The walls shook from the aftershocks, and it was terrifying.

"I remember running out of the basement to grab some warm blankets and seeing a huge explosion. The sky suddenly turned bright orange, and within seconds the ground shook violently. I didn't know how far away it was, but the fear was overwhelming.

"We decided to leave the next day, after the Ukrainian army destroyed the bridge across the Irpin River to prevent Russian troops from reaching Kyiv. The bridge was less than half a kilometre from our building, so the blast was deafening.

"By then, we were hearing reports that Russian forces were approaching Bucha and Irpin and firing at civilian cars trying to escape toward the Polish border. As we left the city, we passed many abandoned cars. Some were returning toward Irpin with shattered or missing windows. That sight, along with the constant fear, made it clear we had to keep moving and not look back."

Having been involved in a Ukrainian-US foreign exchange programme in 2009-2010, Ms Maiba explained she wanted to do all she could to get her children to safety.

She added: "I arrived in the United States in December 2023 with my two daughters. We were welcomed by my host family, with whom I had stayed during my exchange year in 2009-2010.

"When the war began, they were the first to reach out and offer help. I was hopeful the war would not last long, in truth, I was in denial about what was happening.

"However, as the war progressed and the violence intensified, I realised that staying in Ukraine would put my children's lives at risk. If I was offered help, then, as a mother, I needed to accept it and trust in God's providence."

Confronting how things may play out between President Trump and Putin in the city she and her family now call home, Ms Maiba said it was hard to predict any outcome.

She continued: "While the White House has signaled they don't expect an immediate ceasefire, sometimes dialogue can open the door to long-term solutions. Even if no major breakthrough happens right away, talks could open channels that help move things forward in the future

Asked if she trusts anything Putin may do, Ms Maiba is philosophical in her response.

"My perspective comes from my own experiences during the early days of the conflict, which were deeply challenging and life-changing," she said.

"I focus more on the human cost of the war and the importance of ending the violence than on assigning trust or speculating about motives."