A bomb explodes in Kharkov, Ukraine, on Thursday near the country's eastern border. The photo was taken by the daughter-in-law of Lyudmyla Martin, a Ukrainian native who is employed at the Butler Eagle. Martin is distraught over Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine, where several of her family members live, just 31 miles from the border. Photo submitted by Lyudmyla Martin

While most county residents shake their heads at the news footage of the Russian invasion into Ukraine and President Joe Biden touts sanctions on the aggressor, local natives of Ukraine cry, lose sleep and clutch their phones in hopes of learning their relatives are safe.

“All my family is in danger now,” said a shaken Lyudmyla Martin of Butler. “I’m crying all day.”

Martin hails from Kharkov, Ukraine, which is about 31 miles from the Russian border.

After weeks of amassing troops and supplies at the border, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order early Thursday for troops to push into Ukraine and launch a large-scale military attack.

Her brother and daughter-in-law remain in Kharkov, while her sister and two nieces are farther from the border in another town.

Martin’s daughter-in-law sent Martin a video from her apartment on the 12th floor Thursday morning that includes loud popping and explosions in the background as the young woman cries in terror. This video can be viewed on the Eagle’s Facebook page.

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