Interview: Immigration attorney describes what he's hearing from Sacramento Ukrainian community following Russian invasion

Russia began on Thursday what President Joe Biden called "a brutal assault on the people of Ukraine."
A senior United States defense official told NPR that the Russian assault is in the “initial phase” of a “large-scale invasion,” and that it appears Ukrainian forces are fighting back. Biden also announced new sanctions on Russia following the beginning of the invasion, and stated  that U.S. forces in Europe “are not and will not be engaged in a conflict with Russia in Ukraine.”

Russia's attack on Ukraine is also being felt in the Sacramento region. The Slavic Assistance Center, located in Sacramento, estimates there are upwards of 100,000 Ukrainians that have immigrated to the area.

Alex Tovarian is an immigration attorney active in the Russian, Ukrainian and broader Slavic community in Sacramento County. He spoke with Insight host Vicki Gonzalez about what he's hearing from the friends and families that he's in contact with.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Interview Highlights

On how he's doing personally since the attack began

We're not doing really well. I was not the only one who could not even think that what we see right now was really happening or that it would happen. Unfortunately, gruesome events took place last night, and I practically did not sleep last night. Not only because I was watching what was happening, but also because my social media basically just exploded, because I received so many messages and calls from people from Ukraine who know me that I'm an immigration attorney and you can understand their emotional state. They're basically seeking help and asking what can be done because they are under attack.

On if he was surprised that Russia attacked Ukraine last night

As a matter of fact, I was. Because we expected that Vladimir Putin is not going to stop, he will make a move. However, we were so hopeful that whatever he did, his attacks will be limited in the areas of those undisputed territories, which are now deemed independent. However, we were hoping that the whole conflict will be around, you know, Luhansk and Donetsk republics. However, as we know, unfortunately, Vladimir Putin moved inside the country and so many different types of attacks were inflicted on Kyiv and Kharkiv and other cities.

On what he's hearing from family and friends

We just hear that people are absolutely hopeless and helpless, and they don't know what to do. I was watching coverage from Kyiv, from the capital last night, and of course, people are panicking and they're trying their best. They're putting their children in their vehicles and they try to leave the city. And what we know is that once they approach the borders, women and children are allowed to leave the country and men are not allowed to leave the country. 

On if he's expecting an influx of Ukrainians seeking asylum here in the United States and California

At this point, it's difficult for me to really comment on this, because I don't know what's going to happen. Again, I listened to some experts last night, and several experts unfortunately said exactly the same thing, that this is just the beginning. Because the plan of Vladimir Putin is, as he says, we don't need the country, we don't want to invade the country, we don't want to be there. But what we do want to do, is they want to basically assign the government — the pro-Russian government to this country so that it will be sort of like Ukraine will become a puppet to Russia. So that is the plan. And of course, if that is going to happen, I assume and I expect that people will be participating in all kinds of protests. And we already see protests not only in Ukraine today, we're already seeing protests in Georgia, we see protests in Russia. And of course, if that is going to be the pattern of behavior from the Russian side, I do expect that a lot of Ukrainians will flee.