For a Deaf Family in Ukraine, the Bombs Came Without Warning

“At first I thought it was an earthquake,” said Antonina Andriyenko, 74, who is deaf and lives with her 48-year-old daughter, Tanya, who is deaf and autistic. In an interview through a sign language interpreter, Ms. Andriyenko described the fear and confusion as the Russian forces pounded the city.

“We were afraid to sleep. We stayed in a corner hiding,” she said. “The windows were breaking.”

Like others with disabilities, for the estimated 40,000 deaf and hearing-impaired Ukrainians, the war is particularly dangerous and difficult to navigate. While several thousand deaf Ukrainians have been evacuated to safer areas or neighboring countries, Ms. Andriyenko was among the many more who remained. Read more

@nytimes