Ukrainians seek fresh start in Westman

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This article was published 09/02/2023 (999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

KILLARNEY — With help from business owner and former Killarney-Turtle Mountain mayor Rick Pauls, they’re rebuilding their lives in Canada after fleeing war-torn Ukraine. But that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten their home country.

Tetiana Lushtaienko and Liana Misinova say they want to share their story so the world outside Ukraine is aware of what is happening there and understands the importance of uniting against Russian aggression.

Learning a new language, their English isn’t perfect, but their meaning is perfectly clear.

“[The] world must know what Russia is doing in Ukrainian territory,” Misinova said.

Pauls has taken Ukrainians displaced by the war with Russia into his spacious six-bedroom home and helped them find work and homes when it’s time to move on. Sixteen people have cycled through his house so far.

They now have jobs, and some have settled in Killarney while others have found homes further afield in Canada.

“It’s been rewarding,” Pauls said. “Tiring, but rewarding. When you hear their stories and things like that, how can you not help?”

Pauls said he has connections to Ukraine. His ex-wife is Ukrainian and he “fell in love with the country” when he visited.

Also, his grandparents were from an area of Ukraine that became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) under Joseph Stalin, and they fled in 1928. It is the same region impacted by the current war.

“When I saw it, I saw that the people were coming and that they needed help and volunteers, something inside me says, ‘You’ve got to do this,’ so I signed up,” he said.

Pauls committed to helping eight families and his seventh will arrive next month.

Many of the Ukrainians who are coming here are educated, middle-class professionals, Pauls said. “They’re coming over here with nothing and they left a really good life there.”

Now, they suddenly find themselves in a country where the primary language isn’t their first. Their degrees and education aren’t recognized here, so they have to take entry-level jobs with pay that makes it difficult to support a family, essentially rebuilding their lives from scratch.

Lushtaienko and Misinova described lives before the war similar to those of many Canadians.

Misinova lived with her two children in a flat in a village in northern Ukraine near the Russian border and she worked as a clothing store manager. Her daughter, now nine years old, studied music and her son, 16, was going to attend college.

The Russian invasion changed everything, she said, describing how her family would sleep in their clothes, ready to evacuate their home to escape rockets and bombs. Misinova said explosions would shake her flat, and a nearby village had homes destroyed.

Misinova said she approached government officials about leaving. The next day, they called to inform her it was time to go and the family only had a couple of hours to pack whatever they could carry into suitcases.

Transported by car and then train, the family travelled to Poland, and then to Czech Republic, where she stayed with her sister while she worked toward travelling to Canada.

“And when you read about Canada, why not?” Misinova said of her decision to come here. “I will try to do this, because I know in Canada my children have a future.”

Pauls and Misinova were in communication for a couple of months while her paperwork cleared.

Finally, with Pauls’ guidance and some of his financial support, Misinova and her children travelled by road from Prague to Paris, received free tickets from Miles4Migrants for the flight from Paris to Montreal, then flew from there to Toronto and finally to Winnipeg, where he picked them up to take them to their new home in Killarney.

Misinova, who has resided at Pauls’ home since December, said she’s grateful to be in a community where she doesn’t have to worry about her children’s safety. She’s currently working at the Blarney Stone Pub and Restaurant, which is owned by Pauls, and her children attend school in Killarney.

She said her dreams now include staying in Canada, and owning a house and car. She would like her children to learn English and pursue their education in this country. Nervous because he didn’t speak English, her son wanted to return to Ukraine when the war ended, but after witnessing how kind the Canadian children are he wants to remain, Misinova said.

Lushtaienko lived in south Ukraine in the seaport city of Odesa, which lies on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in an apartment overlooking the water with her husband and son.

A regional manager who oversaw 10 jewelry stores, requiring a lot of travel, Lushtaienko had a company chauffer so she could work while she travelled.

Just before the war began, she and her husband owned two apartments and had started to invest in rental properties that were being built.

Lushtaienko described how, on the first day of the war, her husband had a close call when a Russian rocket struck across the street from where he was working. As Russian attacks continued, they could hear the rockets passing above their home.

Living in a 12th-floor apartment overlooking the sea, Lushtaienko described how she once looked out the window and saw seven approaching Russian warships. She grabbed her six-year-old son and ran down the stairs for the underground parking lot that served as a shelter. Even there, she could hear the blast of the ships’ guns.

“It was really dangerous and horrible,” Lushtaienko said. “You try to live your regular life, but when you hear sirens you understand your life can stop in any moment.”

Lushtaienko was in shock. Unable to live a normal life and fearing for her son’s safety, after living through one month of the war, her husband told her she needed to escape — but he couldn’t leave with her as Ukraine has prohibited men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Her husband would remain in Ukraine and continue to work.

From there, things happened quickly for Lushtaienko. She didn’t have time to think about who and what she was leaving behind.

“I see way, and I go,” Lushtaienko said.

She learned that Canada had a program to take in refugees and drove with her son to Moldova, where she filled out the required paperwork for herself and her son. Meanwhile, she went online to find somewhere to stay in this country.

After a few disappointments, a friend sent a message informing her she knew of a Canadian man who wanted to help Ukrainian refugees. That man turned out to be Pauls who, through email, indicated that he could help Lushtaienko.

“He said, ‘Yes, of course I can help,’ and I was in positive shock in this moment,” Lushtaienko said.

She and her son travelled by train to Warsaw, Poland. With Lushtaienko running out of money, Pauls covered the costs for mother and son to travel to Canada.

Arriving in April, Lushtaienko became one of the first refugees to stay with Pauls. In Killarney, Lushtaienko said she found a beautiful, peaceful town. The day after she arrived, Killarney residents arrived at the door with donations — clothes, food, a scooter and bikes for her son.

“Almost every day, somebody came and give something, and still, when I have a conversation with people they’re so friendly,” said Lushtaienko, who also continues to reside at Pauls’ home.

Her son is now in school and Lushtaienko works at a store owned by Pauls, which is in the same space as the Blarney Stone. Lushtaienko said she once worked as an accountant in Ukraine, and she hopes to study for a career in that field. First, though, she said, she wants to improve her English so she can confidently navigate life in Canada.

Like Misinova, Lushtaienko intends to remain in Canada, where she hopes to reunite with her husband following the war.

While they say they’re happy in Killarney, it doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten their family and friends’ ordeal back in Ukraine. They keep up to date with events using their phones and social media — even receiving the air raid warnings those in Ukraine receive.

Some of the content is disturbing. Videos family send or uploaded to social media by those who remain in Ukraine show uncensored images of the death and destruction.

Misinova’s father sent her a video of Russian phosphorus bombs that burn people to the bone and smoulder in the body. The poisonous white phosphorus can also seep into a person’s bloodstream and cause multiple organ failure, or death when inhaled. Misinova said she deleted the video, as she found it painful to watch.

“We still cannot believe that it [is]going on in our country,” Lushtaienko said, adding she tries not to think too deeply about the suffering in Ukraine as it would drive her crazy.

She said other countries need to act more quickly to help Ukraine, rather than dither over whether to provide arms.

“In this time, when they are thinking about this, new people die every hour … mostly it’s old people, women, children,” Lushtaienko said.

The victims aren’t soldiers, and the areas that are bombed include civilian regions, Misinova and Lushtaienko said. They’re citizens who can’t afford to leave Ukraine, or have family that can’t be left behind.

There are a few other hosts in Killarney who take in Ukrainians fleeing the war, but Pauls said the flow of those coming to Canada continues.

“I wish other people would do it,” Pauls said. “It takes a little bit of time and effort, but it’s worth it.”

He suggested a good step for anyone wishing to host would be to reach out to the Winnipeg office of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

» ihitchen@brandonsun.com