Tipperary may be far from home but Ukrainians are 'surrounded by great people'
'The shelling never stopped every day, there was no end to it'
For Maryna Yurieva and her family, it literally was a rude awakening that morning just over a year ago on February 24, 2022.
“We woke up at 4.30am and the city was being shelled,” she says.
Fearing for their lives, her family, including husband Oleksander and sons Mykhailo and Sviatoslav, who were 16 and 13 at the time, moved from their home in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which is just 42 kilometres, or 26 miles from the Russian border, to Oleksander’s parents’ home outside of the city.
They spent the next five months there, their every waking moment dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a conflict that has since claimed thousands of lives and instigated Europe’s largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.
“The shelling never stopped every day, there was no end to it,” says Maryna.
Since the previous December she had received messages from friends in the United States about reports of the increasing possibility of a Russian invasion.
“But we didn’t expect anything on this scale,” she says.
If it hadn’t been for Mykhailo and Sviatoslav, she says she probably would have stayed put.
However, for the sake of her teenage sons, she decided it was best to leave.
“It’s not life,” she says. “They would have had no school and would have been stuck in bomb shelters all the time”.
Maryna and her sons had several options of refuge and they chose Ireland, which, despite being just over 3,500 kilometres (or 2,200 miles) from Kharkiv, was the closest to their home.
“We didn’t want to go to the United States or Canada, they’re too far away,” she says.
Above: The Yurieva family enjoy the great outdoors in Ireland
While the families settle into a new life in south Tipperary, their thoughts are never too far removed from home, and those they have left behind.
Oleksander Yurieva, a mechanic by trade, has stayed to fight with the Ukrainian army and has been involved in several evacuations from the frontline of the battle, although “he is now in a safer place, thank God,” says Maryna.
The couple keep in touch as best they can via text messages and video calls. Oleksander has travelled to Ireland a couple of times to visit his family, most recently last October.
Understandably, Maryna is still very concerned for her husband’s safety, as well as that of her extended family, who include her parents, who have “worked all their lives and still have their jobs and their friends” in Ukraine.
“It has been hard for them since the war started. There are air raid sirens and explosions every day but they don’t want to move anywhere and still life goes on”.
Conditions in Kharkiv have improved slightly in recent times, with the restoration of street lighting.
Like the other refugees, Maryna and her sons are making the best of the situation. “You have to,” she says.
Mykhailo and Sviatoslav are attending secondary school at Raheen College in Clonmel, where they have settled very well. Sviatoslav plays guitar and has taken part in school talent shows, while Mykhailo plays basketball with the school.
“They’re doing fine, they love it here. They’ve made friends in school with Irish and other Ukrainian students”.
Maryna is a fluent English speaker, having taught the language for eleven years in Ukraine, mostly to adult learners who needed it for work, as well as to children on a one to one basis.
She works at the medical equipment manufacturer Abbott Vascular, where she has made friends among her co-workers, and with whom she goes hiking from time to time. She’s very grateful to the company for the time off they’ve given her when Oleksander has visited.
Maryna has also joined the South Tipperary Art Group (STAG), “a wonderful group” whose organiser, Maureen Purcell, lives nearby and has been a tower of strength to the refugees since their arrival in the area.
“Maureen was very helpful when we arrived. She secured toys for the children and contacted other people who helped us”.
The Ukrainians’ overall experience of Ireland has been very positive.
“We’re so happy here,” says Maryna.
“Everyone is really supportive and welcoming. I’ve never felt more comfortable in any other country that I’ve visited.
“I love the people here, they’re open-hearted, warm and supportive. Before I came here I didn’t know much about Ireland”.
She says that the Ukrainians living together in Hillcrest have bonded.
“We’re really like a family”.
For all of that, the future is still shrouded in uncertainty.
While her sons have made friends and are living a normal life, Maryna admits that she finds the situation difficult.
“The war won’t end very soon. Even if it did, there are landmines in parks, forests and lakes, and people in Ukraine are restricted in their movement.
“When we fled to Poland from Kharkiv we were scared of every sound, we were wondering if we should run downstairs away from the explosions. Sometimes when I hear a sound I’m still afraid, but of course it’s safe here”.
Her son Sviatoslav has also woken from nightmares, having dreamed they were being bombed again.
However, there’s consolation in the fact that in their new lives the family are “surrounded by great people, Ukrainian and Irish”.