UKRAINE (KNX) — Five years ago after booking one-way tickets to India, Kristina and Eugene’s lives changed forever. While there, the couple found Chapati — a dying puppy who they couldn’t walk away from. Now, the three of them are facing another massive change, stuck in their home country of Ukraine as Russia continues its war. Though Kristina could have fled, she said they will never leave Eugene behind.
“Marshall law was applied and it restricts men who are aged between 18 years to 60 years old. These men cannot leave Ukraine. And as Eugene is in between this age he cannot leave Ukraine,” she said, speaking with KNX In Depth. “Only I and Chapati can do that but…we are not going to leave without him. Because we are a family, we are always together.”
The family is just one of the many who have had their lives completely torn apart by the war, their futures hanging in the balance as they wait for the final outcome. Will Russia give up? Will Ukrainian bravery overcome the invaders?
While they wait to learn what will happen, Eugene said they are living in central Ukraine, where they escaped to from Kyiv, and volunteering where they can and using their fate of being “stuck” in Ukraine as an opportunity to bolster those remaining, especially the troops.
“Our army needs to understand that there are people behind them. It’s very important for the morale of the army,” Eugene said.
“We always knew that Ukrainian people will never surrender. We will fight back, we will fight for our freedom, for our country. Because our nation is a nation of brave people who can unite especially in hard times. It’s a great story of people who are fighting to get their lives and their freedom back.”
Traveling Chapati
Chapati’s social notoriety has given the family a platform on which to share their stories, their struggles as the days go by, and get the news of what life in Ukraine looks like as Russia continues its onslaught.
But that platform all started after that trip, five years ago, to India.
“We found her right on the second day…as a dying puppy…and we couldn’t standby, we couldn’t just walk past her. We wanted to help, that’s why we took her and started to nurse her back to life,” Eugene said.
“Shortly we understood that it’s our dog and…we started to take her on our travels and it all happened step-by-step, country-by-country, and then we started her Instagram account named ‘Traveling Chapati.’ That was our destiny, to travel together.”
Over the years Chapati has traveled with her people to 40 countries, making her the record holder of India and Ukraine for the “most traveled dog.” Along the way she’s also picked up more than 35,000 followers on Instagram and another 8,708 on Facebook.
Since Feb. 24 though, the posts have changed. They’ve gone from posts about travels in Belgium and plans for a family road trip last October, to posts titled “War, day 14” and “War, Day 27.”
The couple said they’re aware of Chapati’s reach, and know that she has many followers around the world. Specifically, they said, in her home country of India — where the war has been covered lightly as India has ties with Russia for some resources.
“We use Chapati’s social media in order to translate to people the real situation which is happening here,” Eugene said. “Because we understand that in India they don't have much news that is showing them the real situation.”
All this, as they face a self-described “nightmare of emotions” where one day they feel inspired and that everything will be good some day, Kristina said, but another they may feel helpless as they wait for the final outcome.
To follow Kristian, Eugene and Chapati's story, find them on Instagram and Facebook.
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