DENVER — Ukrainians living in Colorado are fearful for their family back home, receiving updates through social media nearly every minute of the day.
For Artem Butenko, Telegram channels provide constant information about his family back home.
"Every two or three minutes I get an update on my phone of something that is happening in Ukraine," Butenko said. "It’s hard, but it’s reality. Everybody has to accept it."
The war is broadcast in real time across social media. Every video of war in his home country is difficult to watch.
"My grandma is in the village. She hides in a basement along with some other of her friends and my family," Butenko said. "It’s not always possible to stay in contact, but at least we know that they’re OK. They tell us if they’re not OK. If they don’t respond for a long time, we start to worry. Everybody starts to worry."
Every time he sees a message that the air-raid sirens are going off in a city he has family members in, his heart starts racing. He said the time it takes for his family to let him know they’re safe can feel like an eternity.
The same is true for Oksana Motsiuk. She is now a US citizen, but her family is still back in Ukraine. The constant information is exhausting.
"Telegram, Twitter, Instagram, all kind of social media. I’m switching from one program to another on my phone," Motsiuk said. "I’m sleeping with my phone, if I can call it sleeping, because it’s like maximum one or two hours a night. I wake up and I’m checking, checking, checking with my family. Are you alive?"
From Ukraine to Colorado, the world is watching.
"It’s horrible," Motsiuk said. "It’s heartbreaking, because a lot of my family members are still back in Ukraine."
> Watch: People rally at Colorado capitol to support Ukraine
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Invasion of Ukraine