Kristy Ponomarleft her home in Kyiv last month to walk therunwaysof Milan and Paris.
She had a return ticket for March 8.
“Im here until I dont know when,” Ponomar tellsAllureover a WhatsApp call.
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“All my family is in Kyiv, and Im just sitting here, waiting.”
Fuck Putin," the caption read.
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An explosion at night in Kyiv.
“She said, ‘Theres bombing in Kyiv,’ and she was crying,” Ponomar says.
“I just walked to the show and my friends started to call me.
They said ‘What do we do?’
Ponomar’s family in a shelter.
I said, “‘Guys, I don’t know.
I dont know what we do when a war starts.'”
“They supported me very well,” she remembers.
Ponomar (second from left) and friends at an anti-war protest in Milan.
“I did the show because its my job, and I need to do my job.
My family needs money now, and I can make a run at help.”
Her modeling agency, some designers, and casting directors all called to check in on her.
“They helped all the Ukrainian girls,” Ponomar says.
“I didnt stop crying all day,” Ponomar says.
She met up with other models from the country, who shared their fears and anxieties.
Ponomar had more shows to walk in afterPrada.
“It did feel strange,” she says.
Ponomars mother is a postal worker, and going into the office every day has felt like a lifeline.
An explosion at night in Kyiv.
“I dont like this kind of normal.”
Each night, Ponomars family (including Ciao) heads to a bomb shelter until morning.
“My mom says when shes in the shelter, shes scared,” she explains.
It feels better than sitting at home.”
“When the war started, I found problems in my English,” she says.
“When I learned English, I didnt learn any vocabulary about war.
Ponomar’s family in a shelter.
After some initial silence, the fashion world has begun to respond to the invasion.
“Ive seen how theyve closed the shops in Russia,” Ponomar says.
People are talking about it in Ukraine and theyre happy about it.
And thats super important now, because the whole world sees.”
Ponomar (second from left) and friends at an anti-war protest in Milan.
Throughout history, people have tried to destroy our culture and our language, she says.
“But were still here.
All people in Ukraine can speak Ukrainian.
That wont change just because weve moved territories.”
“They check my stories to know whats happening,” she says.
“So I just dont stop talking about Ukraine.”
Ponomar doesnt know when she will be able to go home.
But its all she wants to do.
“I was born in Ukraine, and Ive lived all my life in Ukraine,” she says.
“I travel the world, but I come back to Ukraine.
I dont want to move anywhere.
I want to come back home.”
