3 Ukrainians living in N.L. reflect on hopes and fears on 2nd anniversary of Russian invasion

Three Ukrainian women who fled to Newfoundland and Labrador following the Russian invasion in 2022 are putting their experiences to paper and reflecting on the reality of war.

When Russia invaded her home country two years ago, Kateryna Melanych says, she thought it would be over soon and life would go back to normal.

"But it's been two years now, right? And nobody could expect that. To be honest, it feels like forever now," said Melanych, a graphic designer who arrived in the province a year and a half ago with her daughter and cat, while her husband is still in Ukraine.

Her life in N.L. feels like "one moment," she said.

"I couldn't tell that I've been here more than one year, and it's just a flash for me."

Olena Ovcharenko, a scientist and psychologist, said for Ukrainians, the word "February" is synonymous with "rage," and what Ukrainians feel stuck in Feb. 24, 2022, the first day of the invasion.

"It's still going on for us, in that February. We are still there."

Anastaia Safianiuk, who now lives with her husband and three daughters in Bonavista, where she works as a marketing specialist, is concerned that she doesn't see the conflict in the news as much as she used to. Melanych says she's noticed the same thing, and people have asked her if the war is over.

To keep her sanity, Melanych said, she tries not to read the news.

"I just ask about the news from my relatives, relatives and close people from Ukraine. So that's my main source of the news."

On the other hand, Ovcharenko said she checks the news daily, and Safianiuk also regularly checks trusted online sources for updates.

"We do have to remember that the war is still there," said Safianuk. "Like the bombarding is still there every single day. And if even we can't see it a lot in the news right now, it's still there."

They also said it can be hard to hear news from home. Melanych says it always leaves her feeling guilty.

"You cannot actually help them and you're not there. So you know, you constantly feel this guilt that there's no nothing you can do," she said.

Ovcharenko's father-in-law is a soldier, she said.

"So it's always really scary to hear something from him or even more not to hear from him."

Safianiuk said it's like living in two worlds: one in N.L. and the other in Ukraine. She can be watching a concert with her children and then have tears in her eyes because of what's happening in Ukraine.

Ovcharenko recently got a call from her mother who told her that the worst thing Russians would do to them, besides killing them, would be changing them.

"They change our personalities. And so such a friendly and peaceful nation as Ukrainian, now forced to kill to survive. It's horrible, but it's our reality," said Ovcharenko.

This past fall, Ovcharenko was able to return to Ukraine and see how things have changed. Sleeping was a problem while she was there, as Russian bombings happen day and night.

"It's always dangerous in Ukraine."

Returning to Newfoundland, said Ovcharenko, felt like coming home, whereas being in Ukraine was like being a guest.

Sharing the written word

Coinciding with the war's second anniversary, Safianiuk, Ovcharenko and Melanych will be sharing their writing as part of the Newfoundland and Labrador Public Library's Love Our Local Authors showcase at the A.C. Hunter Library in St. John's.

Being separated from their homeland and living in N.L. has also influenced their writing.

"It's really, like, giving me strength," said Safianiuk, who is writing about her family's connection to Canada. Her great-great-grandmother — who shares her first name — "ran away from her wedding in Ukraine because she had a brother here in Canada and she just escaped." She said they eventually came back to Ukraine.

"It's really important work for me because for me, that's a connection," said Safianiuk, who says it also points to the historic links between Ukraine and Canada.

Ovcharenko said she'll be sharing a fictional story about a blind, former soldier who has been abandoned 

"A kind of dark fairy tale, which is what our lives actually are," she said.

Melanych said she will be reciting an essay on how to help people live in survival mode when they flee a war. She said people start to forget about what makes them unique, like favourite colours.

"In this way of losing yourself, you start to think about these things and kind of put yourself together as a puzzle. But at the end, you'll be a total different person, not the one you've been before."

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