MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Joe Whitcomb knows about trauma.

The psychotherapist, who was in the military, now lives and works in Ukraine to help trauma victims.

"You just see the soul crushing and painful loss of sense of security in their life," Whitcomb said.

The Princeton, Minnesota, native has been mostly holed up in his Kyiv apartment with his girlfriend, who is Ukrainian. She has a son who will be turning 18.

Whitcomb has been posting live updates on his Facebook page about hearing air raid warnings and explosives.

He had to shelter in the garage over the weekend.

"There was some gunfire back and forth, and then one of the armed civilians was shot and killed right in front our place," Whitcomb said.

A siren went off in the middle of our WCCO interview with Whitcomb a little before 9 p.m. Monday in Kyiv.

Whitcomb says he's reached out to U.S. officials about getting out of Ukraine but currently has no plans to leave.

"I can't even walk down the street right now and not get noticed," he said. "We're not hearing anything back, so right now I'm just going to take a stand for the people in my care."