Refugees from Ukraine have expressed their concern over the continued turmoil in their nation and thanks for the help they have received in Slovakia.
Speaking with Maltese lay brother Martin Azzopardi, SDC, who served as a therapist to Ukrainian immigrants over the summer in Europe, An airfield nurse from Vinnytsa named Oleksandra Panchuk, 31, detailed the night Russian soldiers invaded Ukraine.
“An emergency call woke me up at 4:30 a.m. on the night of February 24. From Kharkiv, my niece contacted me and said, “Sasha, we’re being bombarded!” We are at war.
“A missile crashed close when I arrived at work in the morning, and there was an explosion. I dropped to the ground… It was all like a nightmare.
Valentin, Oleksandra’s husband, who was employed overseas, agreed that she and their 7-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, should go.
On March 9, Capuchin Friars in Slovakia took them in, and they have been there with other refugee families ever since.
She told Brother Martin, “The Capuchin Order in Slovakia looks for us as if we were their own family.
Oleksandra asks God to “rescue my nation, our people, our children, our warriors, and our future” in her nightly prayers. I really hope that mankind learns from its errors.
Oleksandra said, “I feel quite comfortable with the Capuchins in Slovakia and I am extremely thankful to the Capuchin Order and to the Slovakian authorities, when questioned about her current life.
When this dreadful conflict is done, I want to return to Ukraine because that is where my heart is.
Azzopardi received a similar message from 83-year-old Cherkas Vera Andriivna, another immigrant.
She was born in 1939, lived in Kharkiv through the harsh post-war years, and had a happy life with her husband and two kids.
“My calm old existence ended with the sound of artillery fire from the side of the Russian border at 4:30 in the morning on February 24, 2022.”
Cherkas originally hid with her daughter in the cellar of her home before escaping to Lviv and crossing the border.
She has also found refuge in Slovakia, and every day she goes to the Capuchin church to pray for the conflict to cease.
“I have a wish that I will live until my city, along with other cities in Ukraine, is restored. I want to go back to Ukraine.
“I have the chance to pray every day at the Capuchin church here in Slovakia. I pray to God to preserve the lives of Ukrainian military, civilians, and kids.