The war in Ukraine is hitting close to home for Knoxville native Brian Fenoglio and his wife Dorina.

Brian and his wife Dorina now live in Moldova,  which is a small country that borders Ukraine. They recently were able to make it back to Brian’s hometown of Knoxville to visit for the first time in four years. The Covid-19 pandemic and their proximity to the country of Ukraine made them unable to come back to the United States for quite some time.

Brian and his wife gave a presentation about life in Moldova at the Knoxville Public Library recently to talk about what life is like in Moldova compared to small town Iowa. Dorina was 38 weeks pregnant when Russia invaded Ukraine and it changed what everyday life is like for them at their home in Moldova. 

Brian talked about the comparison of this to September 11th, 2001 in the United States.

“It very much reminds me of 9/11 because I remember them being glued to the news and trying to figure out what does this mean for me and how is this going to affect my life going forward. At that point we were very concerned that Russia was going to come to Moldova as well.”

Hear more from Brian and Dorina about their experience in Moldova on an upcoming Let’s Talk Knoxville.