<p>On the roof of the world, Antonina Samoilova held up a blue and yellow panel emblazoned "Stand With Ukraine" while her father and brother were serving in the army defending their country against Russia's invasion.</p>.<p>The 33-year-old had tears in her eyes as she unfurled the Ukrainian flag on the summit of Mount Everest last week, she said on Wednesday after returning to Kathmandu.</p>.<p>The world's attention was turning away from her country's plight following Russia's invasion, she worried.</p>.<p>"It is a pity... it's not good for us Ukrainians because we need more help, we need all the world to help us," she told AFP. "It's not yet over in Ukraine.</p>.<p>"I knew already before the expedition that I am the only Ukrainian on Everest this year. That made me push myself to go to the summit because I knew if it's not me, then who?" she said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/russia-says-hundreds-of-ukrainians-surrender-at-azovstal-1110238.html"><strong>Also read: Russia says hundreds of Ukrainians surrender at Azovstal</strong></a></p>.<p>Samoilova was at the summit of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest mountain, in February when news of the Russian invasion reached her.</p>.<p>Her first updates on the war came from a Kyiv bomb shelter where her sister was hiding.</p>.<p>As she made her way to the top of Everest, days without contact with her father and brother who have volunteered to fight were weighing on her mind.</p>.<p>On her return, she learned that their region had been quiet. "I was like 'Whoo! Thank god!'" she said.</p>.<p>And her phone buzzed with hundreds of messages of support from friends and strangers once she reached base camp.</p>.<p>"Tonia, you are not only our pride, you are the pride of all Ukraine," her father said in a text.</p>.<p>Nepal has issued 319 permits to foreign mountaineers, each accompanied by at least one guide, for this year's Everest spring climbing season, which runs from mid-April to the end of May.</p>.<p>The country only reopened its peaks to mountaineers last year after the pandemic shut down the industry in 2020.</p>.<p>A rare window of good weather has already allowed more than 450 climbers and guides to reach the Everest summit since a team of Nepali climbers opened the route on May 7, bringing relief to expedition operators.</p>.<p>At least three climbers, a Russian and two Nepalis, have died on Everest since the season began.</p>.<p>Samoilova is aiming to join the select club of climbers to scale the Seven Summits -- the highest mountains on each continent -- and has already completed Kilimanjaro in Africa, Europe's Elbrus and Antarctica's Mount Vinson.</p>.<p>But first, she plans to see her sister and nephew, who have escaped to Croatia, before driving back to her father and brother in Ukraine.</p>.<p>"I just want to hug them," she said.</p>
<p>On the roof of the world, Antonina Samoilova held up a blue and yellow panel emblazoned "Stand With Ukraine" while her father and brother were serving in the army defending their country against Russia's invasion.</p>.<p>The 33-year-old had tears in her eyes as she unfurled the Ukrainian flag on the summit of Mount Everest last week, she said on Wednesday after returning to Kathmandu.</p>.<p>The world's attention was turning away from her country's plight following Russia's invasion, she worried.</p>.<p>"It is a pity... it's not good for us Ukrainians because we need more help, we need all the world to help us," she told AFP. "It's not yet over in Ukraine.</p>.<p>"I knew already before the expedition that I am the only Ukrainian on Everest this year. That made me push myself to go to the summit because I knew if it's not me, then who?" she said.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/russia-says-hundreds-of-ukrainians-surrender-at-azovstal-1110238.html"><strong>Also read: Russia says hundreds of Ukrainians surrender at Azovstal</strong></a></p>.<p>Samoilova was at the summit of Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest mountain, in February when news of the Russian invasion reached her.</p>.<p>Her first updates on the war came from a Kyiv bomb shelter where her sister was hiding.</p>.<p>As she made her way to the top of Everest, days without contact with her father and brother who have volunteered to fight were weighing on her mind.</p>.<p>On her return, she learned that their region had been quiet. "I was like 'Whoo! Thank god!'" she said.</p>.<p>And her phone buzzed with hundreds of messages of support from friends and strangers once she reached base camp.</p>.<p>"Tonia, you are not only our pride, you are the pride of all Ukraine," her father said in a text.</p>.<p>Nepal has issued 319 permits to foreign mountaineers, each accompanied by at least one guide, for this year's Everest spring climbing season, which runs from mid-April to the end of May.</p>.<p>The country only reopened its peaks to mountaineers last year after the pandemic shut down the industry in 2020.</p>.<p>A rare window of good weather has already allowed more than 450 climbers and guides to reach the Everest summit since a team of Nepali climbers opened the route on May 7, bringing relief to expedition operators.</p>.<p>At least three climbers, a Russian and two Nepalis, have died on Everest since the season began.</p>.<p>Samoilova is aiming to join the select club of climbers to scale the Seven Summits -- the highest mountains on each continent -- and has already completed Kilimanjaro in Africa, Europe's Elbrus and Antarctica's Mount Vinson.</p>.<p>But first, she plans to see her sister and nephew, who have escaped to Croatia, before driving back to her father and brother in Ukraine.</p>.<p>"I just want to hug them," she said.</p>