When she first heard that Ukraine was under attack by an invading army, Halyna Semibratska, now 101 years old, was confused. “It’s not the Germans who have attacked us?” Ms. Semibratska asked. Ms. Semibratska is one of a small group of elderly Ukrainians who have lived through not one but multiple invasions. As children and teenagers, they saw their land and people ravaged in World War II. German troops and tanks swept through in 1941, seizing Ukraine from the Soviet Union, already seen by many Ukrainians as an occupying force.

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Persons: Halyna Semibratska, “ It’s, Semibratska, Iryna Malyk Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Soviet Union