experiencing this. divided families. ukraine briefly existed as a separate country after the collapse after the collapse of the austro—hungarian empire, but then became absorbed into the soviet union and only emerged after 1991. this olivia le poidevin reports. here is what i hear in the heart of kyiv. the russian army bombing peaceful ukraine. that's the voice of valentina from kyiv in ukraine. just months earlier, she had been celebrating new year's eve in the country's capital. could now she is fleeing from war. valentina never thought i would be a war, particularly because she, like many ukrainians, has family in russia.