The nearby tennis courts where she played were destroyed when Russia drones, bombs and missiles first began tearing apart Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv in 2022. Explosions were heard throughout the city, which plunged into chaos, with air raid sirens blaring and residents crowding into bomb shelters.

Diliara Trehub and her mother, Olga, felt that they needed to get to safety outside of the city. So, they packed only what they could fit into backpacks and began to flee toward the United States. They had family in the Coachella Valley, so believing that family needs to be together in difficult times, the California desert became the destination.

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