Lenora Shcherbyna, an intervention specialist at Trotwood Prep and Fitness Academy, met Yurii Shcherbyna a few years ago online and married him in Ukraine in 2019. Yurii Shcherbyna moved to America over the summer, and the couple lives in Dayton. Lenora Shcherbyna said her husband wasn’t comfortable speaking with media, but she agreed to talk about her experiences.
“It’s very hurtful and shocking. As my husband has said, there’s been problems growing over there for eight years,” Lenora Shcherbyna said. “So even in the years I’ve known him, tensions would rise and they would do military exercises and people would get nervous, and so they always felt like something was going to happen, but they didn’t know when.”
Yurii Shcherbyna is from Mykolaiv, a city in southern Ukraine near the Black Sea, and has family still in Ukraine. Lenora Shcherbyna said she has been in contact with his family there.
The relatives said they “woke up to explosions this morning, it was very shocking, everyone is sitting at home, we’re scared but we’re OK,” Lenora Shcherbyna said.
Lenora Shcherbyna has traveled to Ukraine four times since meeting Yurii Shcherbyna and was there most recently over the summer to help him pack for his trip to Dayton. She said people there were kind and the invasion is difficult to watch.
“It’s shocking and very disheartening. You’re so worried about the family that’s over there, but I do know that Ukrainians are very strong people,” she said.
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