On the ground: Refugee says Russians think invasion will "free" Ukrainians — "but we are free people" already
When Ukrainian Olga Batochka told her Russian friend that her hometown Kharkiv was being bombed, he didn't believe she was in danger and told her to go back home instead of staying underground.
"People in Russia don't know what [has] happened in Ukraine," she told CNN, adding that the friend told her that Russia is doing this to "free us."
"But we are free people. We have a beautiful government, beautiful country ... Now, that's all destroyed. And we have no houses, no families."
Batochka fled to Romania with her
14-year-old daughter. They are two of the UN-estimated 2.5 million people who have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.
She told CNN she believes she will return home some day, and she wished good luck to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelesnky, whom she voted for.
For now, volunteers in Romania are taking care of the mother and daughter, who plan to go to Portugal once they have their paperwork, where they have family waiting for them.