Ukraine invasion saddens former volunteer from Bountiful
By Tom Haraldsen
Abby Salmon became part of the Utah-based International Language Program as a volunteer several years ago, and was offered the chance to teach English in a number of countries. She chose to go to Ukraine in part because “I didn’t know much of anything about the country’s culture, and I wanted to learn more.” Now, she watches with her family from their home in Bountiful, with trepidation like much of the rest of the world, as the nation is dealing with the invasion from Russia.
“I lived in Kyiv with a host family, something I wanted to do rather than just live with fellow American volunteers, and it was a great way to learn the culture,” she said. “I lived briefly with a single mother and her daughter, and later talked to a bishop in an LDS ward and he found a family that wanted a volunteer. So I spent four months with the Lysenko family, who are also Latter-day Saints, and it was awesome.”
She finally returned to Kyiv in 2017, spending about five days there with the family. One of their daughters married an American and is attending college at BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. The rest of the Lysenkos are still in Ukraine, and Abby has been able to stay in contact with them off and on.
“They are still living in their home, not venturing out much, feeling safe inside. The brothers are of age but have not been called up yet for the military. I don’t think anyone thought it would actually become an invasion, which obviously it has.”
What hits Abby particularly hard is that she remembers the Russian annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbas region in 2014. Since then, the past eight years have seen war and conflict within the Ukrainian nation.
“It felt to me like the fighting was going to stay there in that area,” she said. “So when we heard of these threats and the fighting expanding, it didn’t feel like it would happen in the rest of the country. The threat felt fake, like those rumors we’d heard before.”
Even now, with the eyes of the world on Ukraine, she’s still skeptical about what she’s hearing, saying, “I know the influence Russia has, how they could manipulate the information. I wonder if what I’m hearing is real. But more and more Ukrainians are posting what is happening right in their neighborhoods – the real hurt and ache. Those are the stories I know are genuine.”
And she’s not surprised by the resilience and the resistance of the Ukrainian community.
“I remember how tough these people are, how they always find the toughness they need,” she said. “I hope it leads to their success. I knew they were going to fight if attacked, and they’ve been fighting.”
