DALLAS — Ekaterina Laskari and her family are hunkered down in a dark room in Ukraine.
On Feb. 25, they fled from their home in Kyiv to escape the war. Laskari is with her parents, her brother, her pregnant sister-in-law and their young daughter. Her husband and 3-year-old son are there too.
"We just sit in a field," said Laskari.
She describes her shelter as a village around 40 miles outside Kyiv. For now, she believes this is the safest place to be.
"We have no opportunity to move somewhere because Kyiv is in war. Kyiv is on fire. Kharkiv is on fire, and we are in between," said Laskari.
Just a few miles away on Tuesday, she heard a loud explosion. She said it was the Ukrainian army blowing up a bridge so Russian troops can't enter Kyiv.
"I cannot even imagine how long we will build our country from this point," she said.
As much as Laskari wants to, she can't hide her son from the images of the war.
"The most awful moment was when we went from Kyiv to this place, and he saw tanks. He saw tanks and he saw soldiers," she said.
Laskari said it's also been difficult for her husband because he is Russian.
"Just imagine," she said. "My husband is Russian. He hates it all. Of course, he is against Putin. He struggles a lot. He can just support Ukraine at this point."
The fear Laskari felt from the first day of the war is now channeled to strength. She said Ukrainians are pulling together to help their country.
"We are now at the level when we are full of energy, full of energy to do something," she said.
While Laskari isn't fighting a physical battle, she is fighting to get the truth to the people in Russia who aren't seeing the terrifying conditions in Ukraine. She said many citizens and Ukrainian journalists are doing the same.
"Russian media is something awful. It makes awful propaganda," said Laskari.
As of Wednesday, Laskari and her family remained hidden in the village outside of Kyiv, but she is unsure of their plans to flee the country.
"We still have some food. We have heaters," Laskari said. "I couldn't even imagine that I will sit like this. We're thinking about food, thinking about just plain conditions, thinking about shower, thinking that I don't have enough Pampers for my kid."
"Everybody in our country feels unsafe," she said.
Laskari wants to share her story to help her neighbors in Ukraine.