‘I don’t know if she’s alive,’ Hamilton families worry for loved ones in Ukraine

It's been weeks since Konstantyn Sheweli has heard from family in eastern Ukraine.

In late March, an aunt who lives in the region of Luhansk, told relatives trying to evacuate her to western Ukraine that there was no way out.

Then, silence.

In the last few days, the city that she lived in, they're showing images of it being bombed relentlessly," said Sheweli, a first-generation Ukrainian Canadian. I'm just kind of hoping I can see a picture of her being evacuated. So I don't know if she's alive."

It's been more than six weeks since Russia invaded Ukraine. In recent weeks, atrocities have been reported in cities like Bucha and Mariupol, where thousands have been reported dead.

At the beginning, we didn't have to blur out the images. We saw destruction, we saw fear and intimidation, we saw the cyber attacks," said Sheweli, who is the president of Hamilton's chapter of the Ukrainian National Federation. Now, we're seeing images of death."

Sheweli is part of a large Ukrainian diaspora in Canada grieving for the country. He has family all over Ukraine" and has visited several times.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated Canada's solidarity with the European country Friday, speaking to a crowd at the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada on Parkdale Avenue North in Hamilton's east end.

Ukrainians are fighting and dying for our values, as well as their language, their culture, their future," he said, speaking from a small stage against the backdrop of the blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag.

And we need to do - we are doing - everything we can to support them in this fight, to stand with them, to push back against Vladimir Putin, not only to make sure that Vladimir Putin loses this war, but to make sure that nowhere else in the world people can think that it's OK to invade and take anyone else's sovereignty."

In the same building are two rooms filled with boxes of donations - clothes, diapers and medical supplies - which represents just 30 per cent of what's been received since Russia invaded in February.

Early on, truckload upon truckload" were sent to Toronto, Sheweli said. More recently, the group has sent donations on charter planes directly from Hamilton airport.

The goods are sent to Poland, then from the border distributed to Ukraine.

So far, the federation has sent two planeloads, and are seeking funding for more trips.

Every night - morning, in Ukraine - Sandy Tarasenko calls her family back home.

Russians make most bombing in the night," she said. So every night I call them ... and they have to report that I'm alive and fine."

Tarasenko, who arrived in Burlington last month with her three kids and co-worker Victoria Perro after fleeing Ukraine, said her husband and brothers, one of whom is a surgeon, aren't afraid.

She said there's no time for fear."

The heart cannot be scared all the time," she said. Every human can adapt, even in the war."

Tarasenko considers herself a strong person." Yet every day is a struggle.

How is it possible not to cry," she said. Everybody who is abroad, everybody's crying."

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com