It's difficult to imagine the anxiety of living in Ukraine right now. One now-viral image sums of the incredible level of fear.
Terrified that she and her husband could be killed by Russian soldiers, Sasha, a 33-year-old Ukrainian mom, wrote her family's contact information on her daughter's body.
The image is both heartbreaking and completely stunning.
Sasha and her family lived in Kyiv before Russian forces invaded. She worked as a painter and an art teacher. But on February 24, her entire life changed in an instant.
As bombs began to fall, Sasha knew she had to protect her daughter, just 2 years old. So, she and her husband packed up and fled. In doing so, she feared the worst: that she and her husband may be killed.
To help ensure her daughter wouldn't be without a person in the world to look after her, she wrote her extended family's contact information in permanent marker on her daughter's back. The terrified mom spoke to Today Parents about the decision.
"I tried to imagine if something happened with me and her dad, there would be no information for her," Sasha explained. "Who would care for her if she survived? And I really want her to know who she is. So maybe someone could connect her with some relatives."
She also created a makeshift contact card with her daughter's grandparents information. "We did not know if it would be safe for us," she shared. "The sounds of bombing woke us up at 5 a.m. in the morning. I heard the sounds of our air defense — the sirens. I couldn't believe they were bombing us."
"I am an artist, I wanted to show my feelings," she said of posting the now-viral image. "And I think the world should see it. I have many messages now from parents in other countries who are shocked. They can't imagine that Russians could do something like this."
Sasha and her family were able to escape, though she did not share her location out of fear. She says her relatives are still in Kyiv, a truth that terrifies her. The mom did express some relief that her daughter is too young to truly understand what is happening. Still, she is homesick and just wants to see her grandparents.
