One of Final Fantasy XIV's Top Streamers Says She Might Have to Flee Ukraine

One of the biggest content creators for the critically acclaimed MMO Final Fantasy XIV warned her audience that she might have to leave her home if Ukraine comes under attack from Russia.

Zepla is a Final Fantasy XIV streamer and YouTuber who grew up in the United States but now lives in Kyiv in the Ukraine. During a stream last week, she took a break from Final Fantasy to discuss the news about Russian troops gathering at the border between the two countries. To illustrate her point, she brought up a map of the two countries, explaining that Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in various conflicts for a long time, including the war in Donbas which has been ongoing for eight years.

“Here in Kyiv, people haven’t felt like the conflict would move further west,” Zepla said. Now, Zepla said that she’s concerned that the soldiers gathering at the border could launch an attack that could affect her at any moment.

“This isn’t a sudden aggression, we’ve had aggression,” she said. “Now it’s different, now people everywhere, where I live, are actually scared because of the buildup of troops all along the border, as well as the military alliance with Belarus.” 

Zepla also played a clip of White House press secretary Jen Psaki describing the situation, saying that the White House was sending US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“Antony Blinken got in last night,” Zepla said. “Regarding what he said today, he said Russia could attack at short notice.”

Zepla has taken all this news as a signal to be ready to leave. Unfortunately, because she has pets, it’s not as simple as packing a bag and leaving.

“Ukraine is considered a high risk rabies country for dogs,” she said. “This means that there’s a lot of extra paperwork I need to do, and there’s a very specific timeline that must be done to get a dog out of the Ukraine and into the US.”

“I apologize if this sounds like fear mongering,” Zepla said. “At this point it feels like there are enough official sources that say an attack could be imminent, like legitimate, respectable government sources saying that this is something I need to be prepared for. … If something does happen, and I need to up and leave on very short notice and I’m panicking or something on social media, you have at least some background, some context for what is happening.”

So far, Zepla says she does not know where exactly she will go in case of an attack on Kyiv, but she is trying to prepare for the worst.

“I’m prepping now,” she said. “If there’s an actual attack from the north—which is about two hours away, Kiev is about two hours away from this border—I will just get the bug out bag, get the dog and cat in the car and head west. Just find somewhere.”