Kyiv, Ukraine, February 2022 (Photo: (c) Allagreeg - Dreamstime 243919766)

By LNN Staff

Part 2: Escape from Ukraine

Constant Fear: Surviving in a War Zone

Apr 25, 2022 | 2:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB — Lethbridge News Now is featuring a series of stories about Ukrainian refugee families who are relocating to Canada.

The Escape from Ukraine series describes their experiences during the war that began in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and follows them through life-changing decisions that lead them to a new life in Canada. Family names are not used throughout the series for their own protection.

This video is Part 2, Constant Fear: Surviving in a War Zone.

Read Part 1, The War in Her Words, featuring a letter from one of the children in this video.

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The family featured in this story has escaped to Poland, where they are awaiting documentation to come to Canada.

A Southern Alberta family has volunteered to host the family when they arrive, and dozens of people have donated household items, food, and money to help with their flight to Canada. A GoFundMe campaign has also been set up by their Canadian host, Sherry Silvaggio.

If you would like to help or host a refugee family, the federal government provides information for Canadians on how to sponsor a refugee.

Provincially, the Alberta Government also has refugee support information available, including details about how to support privately-sponsored refugees.

The entire LNN series, Escape from Ukraine, will be featured on Lethbridge News Now in the coming weeks.

A transcript of the video is published below.

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Early in the morning on February 24, 2022, this Ukrainian family of four was asleep in their apartment in Kyiv, Ukraine, when they were suddenly startled awake by the sound of bombs.

“We hear three explosions, one after one. Boom! Very, very strong. You can hear and you understand and realize that it’s real, something happened.”

It was the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The family says what happened next is a blur. They could hear the people in their apartment building start to grab their belongings and run.

“We hear people pick up clothes very quickly, everything down, pick up, and it’s a mess, and I look out the window, and I don’t see what is happening. We see a lot of people go and make cars, and go and run, and like that, everything started.”

The family tried to figure out what to do next.

“We were very nervous and everything, and we don’t know exactly what to do, because this situation, you will never predict what it’s going to be next, because it’s bombs, and you don’t know when it will be again and again.”

“And you don’t know what location, exactly, if you want to move, which road you should take.”

“Yes, and after that, we start to hide in shelters. We start to hear the radio, the TV, they start to say to us what we should do, and always this feeling that something will happen.”

The family decided to stay where they were for the time being. They moved into the hallway corridor of their apartment building, and took shelter in the basement with a dirt floor; wherever they could feel a sense of safety.

“There is fear always, because you are in a building, high building. You are afraid. I am always afraid, and I wanted to hide in a shelter, and we sleep in corridor a lot of times, because …”

“It’s the most place we’re safe in our home. In the corridor, you have two, three walls on each side, so it’s the best place to be.”

“I didn’t sleep normally, maximum one, two hours per day. It was like always you are afraid and you can’t sleep. Maybe because I’m a parent, and I’m responsible about them, that’s why I feel this fear very strong.”

The situation quickly deteriorated.

“The elevator not working. We are on the tenth floor, and always where you hear this signal that you should go to shelter, you should go to shelter, and we were living like that. A few, five days after that, seven, and a lot of things you can’t find in the market. We start to have a lot of people, a lot of queue of people, nothing, products have disappeared, everything. A lot of people waiting for pharmacy to enter, and it was awful.”

It became even worse. They saw other apartment buildings being bombed, and even the building across the street from them was hit. That’s when they decided to leave to try to keep their family safe.

“It was awful, and the worst thing actually, is that the rockets entered a building opposite our street. And we understood that it’s not just a game.”

“It’s not a game anymore.”

“Because it’s near you. You see a building that is actually crushed and burned because of rocket, and it’s this feeling that something can be because of bombs, because it was evening, it was night even, and you don’t know where and how, and just, just leave, is what we were thinking, just go to safe place.”

So that’s exactly what they set out to do. They left the home that they loved, and the life they had spent years building in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Their destination, unknown.

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This is Part 2 of a feature series on Ukrainian refugee families coming to Canada.

Part 1, The War in Her Words, features a letter from one of the children in this video.

Part 3, Escape from Ukraine: Alberta bound, is a continuation of this family’s escape from Ukraine.

The entire LNN series, Escape from Ukraine, is featured on Lethbridge News Now.

Read the story of another Ukrainian refugee family searching for peace in Southern Alberta.

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