Reality TV
90 Day Fiance’s Yara Zaya Says It’s ‘Hard to Sleep’ Knowing Family Is in Ukraine
90 Day Fiancé star Yara Dufren (née Zaya) revealed she is worried about loved ones in her native country of Ukraine amid Russian airstrikes.
On Friday, February 25, the mom of one, 26, who shares daughter Mylah with husband Jovi Dufren, said that she didn’t rest much the night before because of what was going on back at home.
“Honestly, it’s hard to sleep when you don’t know what will happen to your friends and family. On the way to Fox studio, [I] will be live soon,” she captioned an update via her Instagram Stories after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would be launching a military operation on Thursday, February 24.
Yara now lives in Louisiana but was in New York, New York, to do press about her relatives, who reside near the border of Hungary. Prior to the turmoil, she was planning to return to Ukraine and bring her 18-month-old daughter for the first time.
“It’s honestly really hard for me because, yes, I do live in the United States now, but Ukraine, it is my home,” she said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “I love my country, and it’s just so hard for me to even think that in 2022, in this world right now, war still exists.”
“My friends are calling me all the time. I just talked to my friend, and she’s like, ‘Yara, I’m so scared. I’m hearing the bombs. I’m hearing the explosions. I don’t want to hear the noise,'” Yara told the outlet. “They weren’t prepared. They don’t have enough water. They don’t have enough food. My sister called me and said she tried to go to the supermarket, but there’s not enough food anymore.”
Yara said locals are not able to leave the country because there is a “big jam and nobody can move and get out.”
“People are trying to save their families and kids,” she continued. “I’m honestly grateful to be here right now, but at the same time, I am scared, too.”
Yara and Jovi, 32, made their TLC debut on season 8 of the 90 Day Fiancé flagship series, during which they documented their long-distance romance after meeting on an app. Following her move to the United States, the couple appeared on season 6 of Happily Ever After? and got married in Las Vegas, Nevada, in February 2020. The proud parents welcomed their daughter, Mylah, in September of that year.
