The challenges facing Kyiv-based tour operators Julia Kulyk and Aleksandr Skrypka, and their daughter, Polina, were chronicled last week in Travel Weekly editor in chief Arnie Weissmann's column, From the Window Seat. At the time of that writing, Aleksandr was bringing Julia and Polina to the Romanian border so they could escape the Russian invasion.
Subsequently, after a tearful separation, Julia and Polina crossed the border out of Ukraine, heading to the Netherlands. Aleksandr stayed behind and is now helping other Ukrainian families try to escape the war.
Julia and Polina made it to Berghem, Netherlands, where they are beginning their lives as refugees. A friend of theirs has established a GoFundMe page to help raise money for them as they settle into a new life in a foreign land.