Life in Lockdown: Russian woman living in Dingwall in the Highlands worries about when she will see her family again
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A Russian woman living in Dingwall is using technology to keep in touch with her 80-year-old grandmother in Moscow during the coronavirus lockdown.
Anastasia MacLennan (33) moved to the Highlands last October to live with her husband Scott, political reporter at Highland News and Media.
The couple have been married for eight years, first living in Moscow and then separately for two years as Anastasia's visa to live in Scotland was approved.
Anastasia had believed she would easily be able to travel back and forth to visit her family.
Her most recent return to Moscow was in February, and she had hoped to visit again in May, plans she has now accepted are not likely.
"The borders in Russia are closed and I have no idea at all when they might reopen," she said. "No one does.
"Things are very bad in Moscow. The city alone has 47,000 cases of Covid-19 and there are not enough staff to work in the hospitals.
"Pleas are going out across the nation to bring more doctors into the city to help fight the virus. There are photographs of lines of ambulances waiting to take patients into hospital, so things are very bad to say the least.
"I am mindful that the February visit might have been the last time that I will see some members of my family. It is making me very sad and worried. But there is nothing that I can do to change it."
While many of Anastasia's family are scattered across the globe – her father in Sweden and aunts and uncles in America – it is Moscow she is thinking of most.
"I just feel so guilty about not being able to help," she said.
"My stepfather suffers from a life-long condition and needs a blood transfusion every two to three months.
"We are all very worried about him having to go into hospital for treatment as his immune system is very low.
"That means he will struggle if he is exposed to the illness. I am very worried that I may never see him again.
"He has been in lockdown for eight weeks.
"My mother is a paediatrician and she is still working – she is not so used to keeping in touch through social media."
One family member who has taught herself to use technology is Anastasia's grandmother – her babushka –who is regularly in touch.
"My babushka is more resilient than I ever thought she would be," Anastasia said.
"She is 80 years old and has been through so much in her life. Talking to her is really helping with the way I have been feeling.
"She has been showing me her around her garden and filling me in with all her news. It is quite wonderful. It is a really good thing that unlike many Moscovites that she has a garden, as does my mum. Having somewhere outside to tend their plants and sit outside during the lockdown is so important for them."
Anastasia continued: "My babushka says that she is happy that I am in Scotland with Scott, and that I would be missing him if I was in Moscow. And she is right. but I still miss her, and my mother and family every single day.
"I have been thinking that, even if I could go over in September, there might be another peak to the virus and that means I would be stuck there away from Scott. I don't think that it is worth the risk.
"There is nothing to be done, but to make the best of it."
To tell your own story of Life in Lockdown contact reporter Louise Glen by email at louise.glen@hnmedia.co.uk, via text or Whatsapp on 07496 491030, via The Ross-shire Journal Facebook page by clicking here, or phone 01463 233059.
