BILLINGS — After coming to an agreement with Ukraine, the United States is urging Moscow to say yes to a 30-day ceasefire proposal that would help chart a path toward peace from a war that is over 3 years old and taking a toll on thousands.
That includes one Ukrainian family living in Billings, who is watching the city they know and love continue to be bombed.
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Sumy, Ukraine, lies just 18 miles from the Russian border, and has been a target of Russia.
"It's terrifying because like, I don't know what will be next," Yuliya Johnson said on Tuesday. "It's scary to open the news and scary to see like my city is bombed constantly."
Johnson moved to Billings in 2017. In 2022, when the war started, she knew she had to get her parents out of Sumy to safety.
Unfortunately, Johnson's father died before he was able to leave Ukraine, but her mother, Marina Petrusenko, was able to make it to Billings in March of 2022. Despite the peace and acceptance she feels in Billings, Petrusenko misses home.
"She is very homesick. When she went to Ukraine last summer, she saw all type of bombing," Johnson translated for Petrusenko. "It’s terrifying to hear what’s going on, but she wants peace. And if he (President Donald Trump) will be the one who brings peace, she is fine with that.”
As Ukraine remains a topic of intense global interest, uncertainty looms for the roughly 240,000 refugees who fled the country to the U.S. as Trump contemplates canceling protections for the refugees.
Johnson and her mother do not have to worry about being sent back, because Johnson gained U.S. citizenship.
“She came because I'm citizen and she's resident right now. So, she's fine. But I have a lot of empathy for people who now, like every day, they don't know,” Johnson said.
But they both remain strong, hoping for an end to the war.
“People need peace, because we very exhausted. As country, we’re very exhausted,” Johnson said. “I know that a lot of people who still live there, they cannot relax because they don't know if they go to sleep, if they will wake up or not.”
Petrusenko plans to head back to Ukraine when it is safe, and Johnson hopes to visit her friends and family still living there, even though she now refers to Billings as her second home.
“She’s just thinking about Ukraine, every day she (is) praying about Ukraine and she keeps going because she knows that one day she will be back,” Johnson translated for Petrusenko.
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