The war in Ukraine has been fought for 19 months. According to Concern USA, 16% of the world’s refugees are from Ukraine. As Ukrainians in Northeast gathered Sept. 16 for their annual heritage festival, the Northeaster asked them how the conflict has affected their lives. Not surprisingly, many were new arrivals.
Olga Predko
I’m 100% Ukrainian. I’m from the western part of the country. The war hasn’t affected me too much; I came to America seven years ago. Some of my friends are fighting for Ukraine.
Bob Iwaskewycz
After World War II, my parents left Ukraine and came here. They gave me life. I wouldn’t be here if they hadn’t come here. I married a Ukrainian gal; I now have ten grandchildren. Ukrainians are being redistributed all over the world, as are Syrians, Somalis and Afghans. Is war a way of redistributing people across the world?
Inna Karpenko
I arrived from Kyiv in December with my daughter. We had to leave our kitten behind. My parents are still in Kyiv, they have the cat. Psychologically, it’s been hard. My daughter always cried when she heard the air raid sirens. She’s doing great at school, makes friends easily. I’m divorced; my ex-husband is fighting in a hot area – Bakhmut. My daughter misses her daddy. Sometimes they talk by video.
Howard Dotson
I’m former U.S. military. I’ve been to Ukraine four times since the invasion. I’ve worked to get potassium iodide for burns. Ukraine doesn’t have a Veterans Administration like we have. They get sent home and have to deal with PTSD on their own. So many suicides. I’ve worked with the VA to translate a phone app into Ukrainian. It gives them the best resources the VA has to offer. I’ve been working to get an in-country prosthetics team. It’s being funded with $527 million taken from Russian oligarchs’ accounts. The 59th Brigade has lost half of its members. Mayor Frey was going to Finland. I asked him to talk to the Finns about providing night vision equipment. If you don’t own the night, you’re at a disadvantage.
Christina Pedenko
We never thought the war would go on this long. My sister and I organized a free store for Ukrainian refugees where they could get basic necessities; it lasted a year. The Ukrainian people keep on going and going. We’re holding out hope and praying every day that Ukraine will prevail.
John Zentgraf
I’m not Ukrainian, and I’ve never been to Ukraine, but I’ve traveled for work to Vilnius, Lithuania, several times. Ukraine is their neighbor, and they’ve been invaded. A Lithuanian friend has taken in three or four refugee families who had escaped the war. I read about the war every day. The war has become back page news. It’s so sad.
Raisa
I’m 86 years old. I lived through World War II and now this one. My 61-year-old son passed away from coronavirus. I moved here when the missiles started coming over my house. I lived in Kyiv and moved to Poland. A 20-year-old Polish man took care of me, provided me with food and clothing. I arrived here a year ago on the 22nd of September.
Paul Jablonsky
For my 90-year-old mother, the war evoked memories of fleeing Ukraine and being captured by the Germans during World War II. She was forced to join an immigrant workforce and worked in various factories. Our concern here at the Ukrainian American Center is the lack of jobs in Europe. People are looking for employment and there aren’t a lot of jobs left. We’ve been doing medical outreach and getting sponsors for families and their kids.
If you’d like to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine, here are some options:
Ukrainian American Center,
301 Main St., Minneapolis, MN 55413,
uaccmn.org
Stand With UkraineMN:
Doctors Without Borders:
https://donate.doctorswithoutborders.org/
Ukraine Humanitarian Fund,
sponsored by the United Nations: