B.C. woman's mom, 84, put off leaving Ukraine due to the pandemic. The day before her flight, Russia invaded

A B.C. woman says she is deeply worried for her 84-year-old mother, who is in Ukraine after her flight home to Canada was cancelled.

Natalia Polchenko, who lives in Vernon, says her mother, Anna Solyanyk, was scheduled to fly home from Ukraine on Feb. 25, the day after Russian forces attacked the country. 

Solyanyk's flight was cancelled and she stayed in a sixth-floor apartment in Kyiv. Polchenko says her mother recently told her she endured multiple bombings in a day as the apartment is located near a power station. 

"The Russians were bombing at least 16 times trying to cut the city of electricity," said Polchenko.

"You cannot imagine how painful it is to say those words, because half of our families live in Russia. We have Russian blood in us. Our first language is Russian. So saying that Russians are bombing Kyiv is just insane."

At times, Solyanyk had to take shelter in the apartment building's basement.

"She remembered yesterday how when she was a young girl, she was hiding in the bomb shelters during World War II," Polchenko said.

Flight first cancelled by pandemic

Polchenko and her husband, Alex Wedensky, have been living in Canada for around 20 years. Solyanyk would visit regularly, and eventually became a Canadian permanent resident. 

Solyanyk flew to Ukraine around two years ago, and her flight back to Canada was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She has remained there ever since, due to concerns travelling internationally during the pandemic, until she got vaccinated and booked a flight back to Canada for Feb. 25. 

Polchenko says her family is considering ways to get her mother home, but they know it may be a long road.  

The federal goverment's website urges Canadians in Ukraine to "shelter in a safe place unless it is safe for you to leave the country."

Polchenko says her family has considered having Solyanyk travel to western Ukraine by train, a difficult trek for someone in her 80s. 

Polchenko's brother, who she says is part of a volunteer defence corps, helped Solyanyk move in with their aunt so she won't be living alone. 

Polchenko says she is grateful Kyiv still has water and electricity, and that the city still has internet access so she can keep in touch with her mother and other members of her family. 

"Being connected right now is something different," she said. "I don't think that in any previous wars it would be possible to be in contact, and I think that this helps to give strength [to] people."

Polchenko and Wedensky will take part in Okanagan Symphony Orchestra performances from Friday to Sunday — Wedensky as a baritone soloist, and Polchenko as part of the Okanagan Symphony Chorus. The performances will be dedicated to the people of Ukraine.

"The spirit in Ukraine is immeasurably, fantastically, amazingly strong," Polchenko said. "We have the impression that they are more calm there than we are here."