‘This is the reality of war’ Ukrainian family finds safety in NC after fleeing conflict

By Meghan Danahey

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — While the war in Ukraine rages into a second year, thousands of Ukrainians remain displaced and far from home.

Oleks and Svetlana had to flee with their children after bombs rained down on their city. Svetlana was pregnant with their fourth child.

Their first attempt to leave failed after a bus with other evacuees was shot at and shelled. The next attempt got them safely to western Ukraine.

“For us, it was a very hard decision because we love our country, we love Ukrainian people, but we also love our kids and we realized our kids, they had to be safe in a safe place,” Oleks said.

From western Ukraine, they followed family through Europe to Spain. Friends who had gone ahead to the Unites States convinced them a trip across the Atlantic would land them in an even safer place.

When asked why they ended up in Western North Carolina, Oleks told News 13, “because lots of Ukrainians are here!”

That is where Oleks and Svetlana received help from Gloria Sainio, an employment specialist with Lutheran Services.

“There is a large Ukrainian population already and through the United for Ukraine program, people already in the States can sign up to be sponsors for folks,” Sainio said.

Pictured: War-torn Ukraine, following Russia’s invasion in February 2022 – Oleks and Svetlana had to flee with their children after bombs rained down on their city in Ukraine. Now, in 2023, they say they’ve found a safe haven in Western North Carolina, but continue asking people to keep helping Ukrainians in any way they can while the war continues on. (Courtesy: Gloria Sainio)

Her agency works with families like Oleks and Svetlana, and their sponsors in Western North Carolina, to help newcomers find jobs, learn English and simply adjust to American life.

“We are really impressed with Western North Carolina,” Sainio said. “We have great teams of volunteers that help in everything from being English language tutors to donating their time and energy. We could not do this without them!”

Lutheran Services is always looking for volunteers to help welcome newcomers to the mountains. CLICK HERE to learn more.

To learn more about Oleks and Svetlana’s harrowing story, how Oleks’ mother remains in Ukraine under Russian occupation and how grateful they are to be together safe in the mountains, continue reading the full interview outlined below:

Oleks and Svetlana’s story Oleks: When the war started, the Russians entered the city, occupied the city. They were not so crazy about killing civilians in the city in the beginning, but Svetlana’s friend, they killed her husband.

Svetlana: At Sumy there is a university, lots of international students were studying there. And when the war started, government were evacuating those international students and the roads were busy with the buses. Lots of people wanted to go with that transportation, hoping that it was safe with international students.

When they (Oleks & Svetlana) tried to leave the city, they were told to go back because the bus with other local people who tried to leave the city was shelled and shot. So, their first attempt to leave the city failed.

Oleks: Local people, most of them from the local churches, were looking for the paths and roads that the Russians didn’t know. Those roads were safer to evacuate people. At first it was very chaotic, but later it was more organized. On different levels transportation was provided to help people cross the border. Even with an agreement between Ukrainian officials and Russian officials to let the civilians leave the city, the Russian army was still shooting and killing civilians. Like two weeks before the invasion I felt that something was going to happen and I told my wife, we need to go to the west part of Ukraine. My wife said no, we’re not going anywhere, because she did not want to leave me alone in the city. March 8th my wife, she made the decision – yes, we need to leave. What influenced her decision to do that – as far as I remember. On the night 7th and 8th of March, for the first time, bombs started to fall on the city. We had a friend – a very close friend – who lived in our city in the area where the bombs started to fall. He was a deacon in the church. More than 20 people, including kids were killed on that night. We have picture of our friend who was a deacon, whose house was destroyed by a bomb. By the miracle of God his family remained alive. After that, my wife, she realized we need to leave the city and my wife, she was pregnant with our 4th kid. At first it was to western Ukraine. Our friends, they advised us to first go to Germany, and then to Spain.

Meghan: What was that like to leave home?

Oleks: For us, it was a very hard decision because we love our country, we love Ukrainian people, but we also love our kids, and we realized our kids, they had to be safe in a safe place. When the war started, I had all the rights to leave with my family, but I decided to stay. I had responsibilities because I was ministering in the church. We believe that our church is God’s church. We were helping people that were going through a difficult time. Lots of villages and towns were under Russian occupation. People didn’t have essentials like food, bread, and ministers of different church denominations, they were providing essentials and delivering essentials, food and medical help and medicine to people who were there. For more than three months, my family left, I stayed in Sumy, the city Sumy. Lots of our relatives left, they moved to Spain, but my mom, she lives still in Luhansk area which is occupied by Russians. It’s not easy but we try to keep communications through her cousin. He lives in Crimea. He calls from his mobile provider to another mobile provider in the Luhansk area under occupation. Another mobile is connected to fiber, so we communicate through the two phones. We keep it very short, so we do not trigger the Russians.

Meghan: Why Western North Carolina? Why here?

Oleks: Because lots of Ukrainians are here. While we were in Spain, we had our friends who had gone to the U.S. Our friends shared the option of U for U (Uniting for Ukraine) program and to be in a safer place in the United States. It is very helpful for our mental lifestyle. Lifestyle in the United States can be very different from lifestyle in Ukraine. For us, it is very important to have communication, especially with people who moved long ago to the United States. They are Ukrainians but have lived here long enough to be Americans. It makes it easier for us to adapt. Still, it is very difficult to communicate in English. We are very grateful and thankful to the people of the U.S., the government of the U.S., to have such safety and benefits of being here, to have a job, to have right to medical services, we are really thankful for that.

Meghan: It’s been 365 days — how do you do every day?

Oleks: My father in the 90s told me, ‘the Russian bear, he will soon be recovered from his wounds, he will come back to Ukraine.’ We realized the war started not in February 2022. Sadly, and unfortunately, the Russian government, they don’t want to admit that Ukraine is a completely different nation. It’s a different mentality, different values, different world view, thought process and what the thought process is going on in Ukraine. It’s a completely different civil society. War is a tragedy, but we are hoping that through that war Ukraine will come out as a sovereign nation and have gained the freedom from the Russian tyranny. Ukraine longs for democratic values, not those of the authoritarians. Ukrainian people got tired of corruption and being under Russian patronage. For centuries, there was a struggle for freedom. For us personally, it is very painful. Every day we read the news, we are suffering with what people are going through. We can’t comprehend completely how those monsters can do the history that way. In my opinion, in 2014 the world did not pay close enough attention to how Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Donetsk, Luhansk, Horlivka and Kramatorsk. The full invasion in 2022, it was a prolonged invasion of what Putin did in 2014, completely destroyed cities and towns. Thousands upon thousands of civilians, including children, were killed. Lots of people who lost their legs, feet, arms and lots of people experienced PTSD. Lots of stress what people are going through. This is the reality of war, but for us as Ukrainians, it’s opportunity to gain their so-longed freedom.

Svetlana: At first, we planned that I would stay in Europe and Oleks would stay in Ukraine. When we realized that separation was going to be for a long time, I realized – no – my children, my family, need their father.

Oleks: When the family decided to leave the city, we didn’t have enough time to put everything together, so it was very fast. We couldn’t take lots of stuff with us because there was limited space in transportation. So, on our floor (in Ukraine) we have everywhere like toys, Legos. And every day when I was coming back home, I was opening the door, when I was seeing those toys on the floor I was crying, and my heart was painful. It was the only time when deep in my heart I was facing the reality that I might never see my kids again. It was a very big deep struggle, but I know in Ukraine, we have kids that are not going to see their parents again. They became orphans. And parents are not going to see their kids again, because kids are killed. Russian troops killed them. Thank God we are together. I’m really thankful for my faith in God, who sees everything. He is going to bring justice. He can’t be bribed. The last word is going to be up to Him. That’s what gives me hope.

Svetlana: Three months before the war started, I remember that moment. I was sitting in my room on the sofa and Oleks came in and he sat. He told me, ‘Svetlana, probably war is going to come soon.’ Three months before war started, I do remember those three months, every day I expected that something was going to happen and my husband wanted to evacuate us before the war started. Our government told us that every family should have emergency suitcase in case of evacuation. We kind of like knew that something was going to happen, but in reality, we were kind of like, ‘well, we hope it’s not going to happen. And one day we were having breakfast and my husband came and said ‘in one hour we are leaving.’

Oleks: Sumy is on the border with Russia and when Putin brought his troops to our border for activity maneuvers, I knew that it was going to be war. And then, during the war, my family was evacuated. My only huge request is the desire to say to the world, don’t give up to help Ukraine, don’t get tired of helping because we need your help. For Ukraine, that help and support they receive is very valuable. All the people have material needs. We had days when we didn’t have water, but God gave us snow. Because Russians were shelling the infrastructure, people were coming out of their apartments and taking snow in buckets and pans. They used that snow as technical water to take showers, to cook, for everything. So that’s my request and cry out, don’t give up on us, we need your help.

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