PA College Grad In Ukraine Remains On Front Lines Of Russian Invasion

PENNSYLVANIA — "Russia is bombing Ukraine in all directions."

Such was the somber missive posted on Facebook early Thursday morning from Alina Beskrovna, a Lehigh University graduate from Ukraine who has chosen to stay in a war zone in her home country. Russian forces were directed by President Vladimir Putin to move into Ukraine late Wednesday, and a concentrated shelling assault has followed.

Beskrovna, who holds multiple advanced degrees, including an MBA in Finance from Lehigh, has been keeping news stations and the public up to date with emails and social media posts.

She's located in the key port city of Mariupol on the Black Sea, part of the Donetsk Oblast region in southeastern Ukraine that has been hit hard by the early attack.

"Heavy shelling heard all over the place," Beskrovna said in another post. "Lines to the ATMs, lines to the gas stations, people sheltering where possible."

Beskrovna told 6ABC that she could leave the area, but she doesn't want to. Instead, she's using her linguistic skills to translate for journalists and others on the front lines, and she's using her connections and knowledge of the region to help connect reporters to sources and stories. She said that she's helped journalists with logistics ranging from accreditation with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to things like train tickets, hotels, and more. She helped source a Wall Street Journal report, and she's also taken photographs for outlets like Al Jazeera.

She knows the danger well, but she's not leaving.

"(Russia) targets Ukrainian intellectuals and activists, and by target I mean torture and kill them," she told 6ABC. "They know who has been active. They keep lists. Wherever Russia comes, there's no life anymore."

Her social media posts have also captured damage from earlier, preliminary Russian attacks in remote regions near her home. On Feb. 17, she wrote: "The Russians shelled Stanytsia Luhanska around 9 am this morning. One projectile hit a kindergarden full of kids. Both teachers are in shell-shock. Waiting on updates."

Beskrovna received her Lehigh MBA in 2017, but she remained employed by the university as an international business analyst through Sept. 2021. Her connection to Pennsylvania has remained even as tensions mounted. In one recent post in late January, she shared a photo of the Rocky Statue in Philadelphia, with Rocky wrapped around the waist in the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag.

Russia's invasion has been widely condemned by western powers, including figures from both sides of the aisle in the United States. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Putin's move was a transparent effort to resurrect the Soviet Union, of which Ukraine was once a part.