JACKSONVILLE, Fla — "I was so excited," Sergei Orgunov says, as he shows a short text message on his phone.
The texts had stopped from his family in Ukraine for weeks. He says he had no clue if they were still alive or not.
His mother, Galyna, has a sister, Maria, in Ukraine. Maria is 93 years old and, while Galyna moved to the United States, Maria stayed in Ukraine.
Holding a tissue and wiping tears from her eyes, Galyna talks about how she prays and worries, so much, in fact, that she's on anxiety medicine.
But, finally, the text came through.
Orgunov says his mom "was very, very happy."
They have five relatives, including Maria and a 10-year-old boy, living now in a tiny village, about 45 minutes from Ukraine.
But Orgunov, even with the new text message, says he is still very worried. He says the Russians are blocking the roads, and it's a dangerous situation.
"They are taking people's houses, they are robbing people and they are raping people," Orgunov says.
He says his relatives have a cellar-type structure underground, where they can all fit, but they have no weapons and no reliable way to hide from Russian soldiers.
Orgunov believes the United States must step up with more strength and stop Putin.
"What I say to Putin right now, I can't say on camera....I would say something very, very bad," Orgunov says.
Despite his anger at Putin and his fear of the Russian soldiers, Orgunov says, "I have no doubts Ukraine will win this war." He says the Ukrainian army is standing their ground against Putin, and they are "brave, Ukrainian people."
Orgunov is watching the attacks on Ukraine, where he lived for 27 years. He says it breaks his heart, but he tries to push on with his career as a painter. He has made several trips around Florida lately to sell his paintings at art shows.
He proudly displays his Ukrainian flag and says people come to his booth to express their support of Ukraine.
If you'd like to keep up with Sergei and his family as they deal with the war in Ukraine, or look at his artwork, you can check out his website at artorgunov.com
