LEHI, Utah — As the war with Russia rages on thousands of miles away, many of those who are currently in Utah, but call Ukraine home, hold out hope for the future of their country.
There’s nothing Anya Beus doesn’t miss about her home country.
“The bread. The bread in Ukraine is the best thing ever. I don’t know how you guys live without it,” she said.
Born to a Russian mother and Ukrainian father, Anya moved to the U.S. from Ukraine in 2009. The last time she was in Ukraine was 2013, a year before the war with Russia broke out. The day Beus gets to see Ukraine again seems farther away as time goes on, especially with the country under attack.
Anya's dream is to rebuild her mother’s home in Mariupol, which was bombed and destroyed in the war.
“I’m hoping that over time, my home city will be back under control of Ukrainian government, and I’ll be able to go home and rebuild my mom’s home,” she said.
Last week's meeting between President Donald Trump Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was supposed to focus on a deal that would have given the U.S. access to its mineral riches. Instead, it dissolved into a blowup between the two leaders that reverberated around the globe.
“I try not to focus on how desperate I am for all the Americans to understand that Ukraine is not just a piece of land somewhere across the big blue ocean like President Trump said," Beus explained. "It’s a big country with 40 million people, unfortunately not all of those 40 million people can live there right now.”
