As the Ukrainian war went on into April and the fighting and bloodshed and destruction of their native country continued, many residents from Davis County who were from the nation or had visited it recently remain deeply affected.

Three different events sponsored by the Utah Ukrainian Association drew residents of Davis County to the state Capitol, and a benefit concert held at the Cathedral of the Madeleine on March 21 was another bonding event for the community. (see separate story in this issue).  

Yulia Holko is a former resident of Bountiful now living in Salt Lake City. She is a director with the association. 

“‘As you know, Ukrainians are fighting for their land,” she said. “They’re fighting for the values of democracy, freedom, and to be free of terror. Putin is a dangerous man, and he will not stop at Ukraine. If the world doesn’t stop him now, he will be at the doorstep of Europe tomorrow.”

Holko, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years after coming to study journalism at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, said her family members back home are terrified, because there’s so much uncertainty. 

“They don’t know exactly what to do – it kind of changes by the hour. Some of them are thinking of going to Poland, but it’s very hard and some roads are blocked and the gas shortage is very serious. Some of them are picking up guns and fighting, or helping in any way they can.”

And she said her friends who are journalists in Ukraine are obviously standing their ground to get the word out about what is occurring.

Oksana Andriishyn lives in Centerville with her mother Inia and a daughter. She moved to the U.S. 12-½ years ago, first living in Arizona and then Chicago before coming to Utah. But her father, a sister and niece, and her two grandmothers still live in Ukraine. One of her grandmothers who has been hiding in a bomb shelter with other family members survived the German-Soviet war in 1941. 

“She still remembers how they had to run for their lives, and experiences the same fears again these days,” Andriishyn said.

She credits the resilience of the Ukrainian people to the fact that “we’ve had war for the past eight years. It’s never stopped. They just continue shooting in the east. I guess Ukrainians just got tired of being bullied.”

Another couple from Bountiful staying in touch with the events in Ukraine are Ryan and Anastasia Patin. They were visiting her family in Ukraine the day Russian tanks began rolling into the country. Her parents helped them flee the country by driving them toward the Polish border, but roads were blocked and the couple had to walk three miles and get a ride for the final nine miles of their escape. They left their belongings behind in her parents’ car. 

“When we left Utah for Ukraine on Feb. 13, everything seemed fine,” Anastasia said. “We were hearing the rumors about what Russia was doing with their military along the borders, but I don’t think anyone really believed it – not until that Saturday (Feb. 26) when we woke up and found out the airport had been bombed. We heard the sirens and we knew we needed to run and escape quickly just to save our lives.”

Anastasia lived in Zhytomyr, where she taught English in a school before moving to Utah. She learned after they returned to Utah that the school had been destroyed by a Russian missile. Fortunately, there were no students in the school – just a couple of adults who were not injured. The fate of her family remains a constant worry.

Bountiful resident 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.” 

“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 said the Lysenkos are still living in their home, not venturing out much, and feeling safe inside.

“I don’t think anyone thought it would actually become an invasion, which obviously it has,” she said.

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. 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.” l