'It is full-on war for nothing': Ottawa's Ukrainian community worries for family back home

Ukrainians in Ottawa with family back home describe the days since the Russian attacks began as “a nightmare.”

Anna Plugatyr was born in Ukraine but moved to Canada in the early 2000s. She still has a large family in Kharkiv, one of Ukraine’s largest cities. Kharkiv has suffered under Russian bombs, residents living in bomb shelters and under curfews.

“It is devastating. We have been there; we went to Ukraine two years ago as a family,” Plugatyr says.

She says the situation has become so dire, it is too dangerous for her family to try and leave their home and bomb shelters for neighbouring Poland. “They are in the areas of Ukraine that you can’t even run from, it is not because they need money or supplies, it is literally the roads are closed, or bombed because it is just not safe.”

Plugatyr describes her family as extremely close, checking in on each other multiple times a day. She says, “If I don’t get in touch for 20 minutes, I don’t know, is it because they are sitting so far underground that there is no connection? Or did something happen? There are no words to describe how you feel.”

Plugatyr fights back tears when she thinks about what is happening back home. “It’s full-on war, for nothing.”

She is trying her best to support family and encourage the community to donate to humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross and UNICEF, but she says she feels “helpless that you can’t have your loved ones in safety.”

She says international sanctions should have been put in place much soon but wants Canadians to know Ukrainians are grateful for the international support.

“It’s everybody’s business, it is not just small Ukrainian business, it is everybody’s business. The world is in danger.”

Her fear is that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not stop if he is successful in Ukraine. “The next will be Poland- the next will be- pick a country- he will keep going. It just breaks my heart,” Plugatyr says.