Key Takeaways:
- As she watched her country fall and her neighbors react to the fighting, Anastasiia Lapatina, 21, grabbed her phone and began tweeting.
- People have noticed them online, and as a result of her reporting, she now has approximately 650,000 Twitter followers.
Anastasiia Lapatina, 21, grabbed her phone and tweeted as she saw her home country crumble and how her neighbors reacted to the fight. She was giving the world a raw look at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Seeing something so horrific and evil in front of you is difficult,” she told CTV News.
She tried to prepare herself for the worst as an aspiring war journalist by reading and watching combat videos but says nothing she learned compared to what she’s seen in person over the previous few months.
“I’m not sure if I’m coping or keeping strong. Because it’s so overwhelming, I frequently fall into a very dark place in my thoughts, “she stated.
Lapatina attends the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus to study political science. She exited Canada and went to live with her mother in Ukraine after the COVID-19 outbreak struck in March 2020, canceling in-person classes. She studied remotely for the next two years while working part-time as a reporter.
She and a group of journalists founded The Kyiv Independent not long before the war broke out. She has been covering the fight for the outlet for the past four months.
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It hasn’t been an easy undertaking, but she believes it is one that she must complete. And she claims that watching her people’s struggle has kept her going.
“Human tales are really important to me. I’m interested in how conflict affects people and how it alters their daily routines. How can people cope with such adversity? “Lapatina stated.
People have taken note online, and she now has approximately 650,000 Twitter followers due to her reporting.
She intends to return to Vancouver in September for her final year, but in the meanwhile, she plans to stay in Kyiv with her mother, where she grew up, and continue writing about Ukraine’s ongoing struggle.
Source: CTV News
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