Family of Huntington Town couple hunkers down in Ukraine amid war
Brad and Anastasia Berger have several relatives in Ukraine. Credit: Brad and Anastasia Berger
For almost a month, Brad Berger of Huntington Town had been texting back and forth with the father of his Ukrainian-born wife, pleading over WhatsApp for the in-laws to temporarily relocate from their hometown of Kharkiv to Long Island.
A Russian invasion was surely imminent, Berger would tell his father-in-law, who is retired from the Ukrainian air force.
"We’ve been on and off with my dad saying, look, ‘I think Russia’s going to attack. Let’s get you a ticket. Let’s get you guys here,’ " said Berger’s wife, Anastasia Berger, who hosts her parents for summers and holidays on the Island.
But his father-in-law was incredulous.
" ‘It’s OK. Nothing is going to happen. How can Russia invade us? They are our neighbors. We have relatives in Russia. Russians live in Ukraine,’ " her parents would say, she recalled to Newsday.
Not until early Thursday Eastern European Standard Time, when the in-laws' apartment building began to tremble and the predawn sky lit up with explosives, did he realize he was wrong.
"When you watch TV, and you know some stuff is going on, with gunfire and missiles are shooting that’s far away from you, you’re kind of saying, ‘this is crazy, this is terrifying, but OK, thank God, I’m good’ but when missiles are flying over your head — it’s like in the movies," the father-in-law said in Russian by phone from Kharkiv, his 38-year-old daughter translating.
Now, as war wages on in the family’s longtime neighborhood, the father-in-law, 62, and mother-in-law, 59 — Anastasia Berger’s mother — have been spending much of the past four days seeking refuge in a basement bunker, or hiding in the hall away from windows that could explode.
"I couldn’t believe — and nobody could believe — that this could happen. It was mind boggling — we couldn’t fathom that such a thing could happen," she said.
Fearing reprisals from the Russians, the Bergers and their in-laws spoke on the condition that the in-laws’ names not be published. The Bergers also asked that their community not be named.
Brad Berger, owner of Berger Bros Camera in Syosset, has stayed on top of the geopolitical situation and is learning Russian. His own father died in 1972 and his mom in 1989, so he calls his in-laws "Pop" and "Mom."
On Sunday morning, the fourth day of the invasion, street fighting was reported in Kharkiv, the nation’s second-largest city, as Russian troops entered and Ukraine’s military and civilian volunteers battled to push back the invasion, according to U.S. news reports.
With her parents and other loved ones stranded, Anastasia is appealing to neighbors and friends for moral support and wants Americans to donate money to relief organizations.
"My family is hiding. Missiles are shooting above their heads, and there is no way to send help," she said, adding: "There is no way to send food or medications to my family or to my friends, because they’re not going to be able to receive it, obviously, because nothing is working."
So for now, the family is hunkered down — one of Anastasia Berger’s grandmothers, an uncle, his wife, their three children and grandchildren.
"Yesterday, during the day, it was quiet in their neighborhood, so my dad was able to go to the nearest supermarket, but the lines are huge," said Anastasia Berger, who immigrated to the United States in 2015.
She said: "They go to bed. They have their clothes on, because in case if missiles start, in case gunfire starts, they go to the basement, or hide somewhere in the hallway."
Those interested in donating can contact Razom, which was formed in 2014 to support Ukraine's independence movement and is helping with the emergency response.
Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.
