An Uber is pulling up on the driveway of the Southern California home of Gennadiy Karasev and Heather Waugh.
They have never met the passenger who is coming to stay in their Woodland Hills home, but, until last month, she lived in her own home in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Now, a small yellow carry-on sized bag is all 37-year-old Evgeniia has with her, from her life there.
Gennadiy and his fiancee Heather signed up on a website to host those fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in their own home.
Heather is expecting their second baby. Oh – and Gennadiy?….He’s Russian.
"My family is there, and I have a lot of friends still back home," said Karasev.
"It's a conflict that is probably going to affect the relationship between Ukraine and Russia, and Russia and the rest of the world for generations to come."
Waugh explained that when Karasev's aunt - who has friends in Ukraine - was visiting them last month, from her home in Kaliningrad in Russia, she had been distressed to see news footage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"Listening to them talking about how it affected them - as people they see themselves as the same as, not as enemies - made me want to do something, if we could," explained Waugh.
Heather went on line and through a website, connected with Evgeniia, who had fled Kyiv.
She’s too frightened to give us her last name because her father is in the military in Ukraine and she fears recriminations.
It’s been a perilous journey for Evgeniia to reach America.
It started with her joining three friends and one of their mother’s, to flee the city in a car.
"At 6.30 in the morning, I grab very little in one little yellow bag," she explained.
"We passed along the Zhytomyr highway and then the bridge behind us, which we had just crossed, was bombed.
"A few kilometers later we stopped and got out of the car, and all stood smoking in silence for about ten minutes.
"We were just quiet, understanding there's no way back for us."
No way back – and not really knowing where to go forward.
First she reached Poland, then went on to Germany, France, Spain and finally to California.
Until last month, Evgeniia had a job working in finance, a home, a cat - and lived walking distance from her mother.
Her parents have remained in Ukraine, and her mom is taking care of her cat.
She says she feels guilty that she’s escaped the country safely when others haven’t.
"Mostly my friends who are safe now have that guilty feeling because we are safe.
"I still think it's some sort of nightmare and I'll wake up one day and it'll have just been a bad dream."
Evgeniia hasn’t traveled as a refugee, she had a visa which was still valid from a previous trip to the United States.
"I've got an education. I was a financial worker. I don't need any donations and I'll try to do something without refugee status," she told KCLU.
"This status is more needed for people who don't have anything and maybe had kids on their arms."
Evgeniia wells up with tears as she describes the warm welcome she’s had from her Russian host.
She says her view of Russians has been changed by meeting Gennadiy – whose own family are currently in Kaliningrad in Russia.
"It's very brave of them to take in a stranger. They are helping so much.
"Their attitude to me, and the way they've treated me - it seems like the world turning into something new.
"It's a miracle."
