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An Afghan refugee and her family who became trapped in Kyiv when Russia invaded Ukraine are escaping with the help of an American nonprofit.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Somaia, 19, has been in Kyiv since she was evacuated in a military plane from Afghanistan last year during President Joe Biden’s bungled withdrawal from the country.
She is among many refugees who settled in Ukraine after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan – although the exact number is unknown.
Somaia, a 19-year-old who fled Afghanistan last year after President Biden’s chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops and the Taliban’s rapid return to power, is now hunkered down in Kyiv as Russian troops advance on the city of 3 million.
(Fox News)
With President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine last week, Somaia and her family found themselves in a familiar and terrifying predicament.
AFGHAN REFUGEE TRAPPED IN UKRAINE ASKS PUTIN: ‘WHAT’S THE BENEFIT OF THIS WAR?’
Fox News got Somaia in touch with Bryan Stern, the co-founder of Project DYNAMO, a nonprofit which helps evacuate people from war zones.
Project DYNAMO is evacuating people, including Americans and Afghan refugees, from Ukraine
(Project DYNAMO)
Stern confirmed to Fox News Digital that Somaia and her family are no longer in Kyiv but on a bus headed out of the country. He did not disclose their destination to protect their safety.
Somaia previously said that she’s not sure how many Afghan refugees are in a similar situation but knew of at least four other Afghan families who had already escaped the city, which has faced heavy bombardment.
A fire damaged building following a blast during Russian artillery strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022.
(Photographer: Erin Trieb/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A 40-mile-long Russian convoy headed for Kyiv stalled Tuesday amid fuel and food shortages on the sixth day of the biggest ground war since WWII.
President Vladimir Putin is trying to overthrow the Ukrainian government, based in Kyiv, to install a pro-Russian regime, but has faced stiff resistance from Ukrainian forces, experts have told Fox News Digital.
Somaia described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “dangerous war” that is still escalating.
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As of Monday, an estimated 500,000 people have fled the country. Many Ukrainians, including women with young children, have had to wait hours in freezing temperatures to cross the border into Poland.
Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report
