"We did just speak to my sister, who continues living in her home. They have no power," said Yulia Zimmerman.
Zimmerman's sister lives in Mykolaiv, the same city her mother fled early in the war.
Still living with Zimmerman and her family in Tahoe, her mother's heart still longs for home.
"In fact, we were able to talk to her, because that gave electricity for an hour. And my sister was able to charge the phone. My mom was able to talk to her and get peace of mind after yet another missile strike on civilian infrastructure and energy in Ukraine," Zimmerman said.
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"We're talking about a million people. End of November, very cold, children in kindergarten. I can't start thinking about it. I live in Tahoe, and outages for two days are painful," Zimmerman said.
Meanwhile, one Bay Area man is doing what he can to help keep the lights on.
We first met Paul Andrews nearly two years ago after he and his brother co-founded a nonprofit aimed at raising money to send lanterns to Ukraine.
"We've actually delivered over 5,000 of these solar lanterns," said Andrews, co-chair of Sunlight Ukraine.
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Now nearly three years into the war, they're ramping up efforts.
"They have a USB plug on the top. So you can actually charge your telephone as well. And that's really critical that people can stay in touch when they're cut off by the bombing," Andrews said.
The lanterns are delivered to Poland and then driven to a university in lviv and handed off to students.
"And the students there are the last mile for delivery. These students are just incredibly courageous. They've taken them out to places like Kherson, and they've taken them out to just right out to the front lines," Andrews said.
As for Zimmermann and her family, she says her mom's not giving up on the idea of returning to Ukraine.
"That is just the hope. And again, we don't want to abandon that hope. And hope is the best weapon we have right now to continue," Zimmerman said.