Matthew Hutchins, whose wife Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of “Rust” in October, says Halyna’s family is now trapped in Kyiv as Russian attacks escalate on Ukraine’s capital.
Matthew told TMZ on Friday that the “safe passage” corridors Putin agreed to are being bombed and Halyna’s mother Olga Androsovych and father Anatoly Androsovych have no option but to stay. Olga continues to work as a nurse at the hospital where she has worked for more than 10 years. However, Hutchins said that Halyna’s sister and three-year-old niece were able to flee to the Romanian border and are hoping to be evacuated.
Hutchins also praised the Ukrainian people for their bravery and is calling for more Ukrainian refugee support, military aid along with any diplomatic intervention possible to protect Ukraine’s independence.
Halyna was born in 1979 in Horodets, Zhytomyr Oblast, in the former Soviet Union, which is now part of Ukraine. She attended Kyiv National University and graduated with a degree in international journalism, and worked as an investigative journalist with British documentary productions in Europe, according to her personal website. She later attended the American Film Institute Conservatory in Los Angeles, graduating in 2015. Despite relocating to the U.S. with her husband, she retained her Ukrainian citizenship and often returned to visit.