Ukrainian families reunite on P.E.I. but worry for those left behind

More Ukrainian families are making their way to safety on Prince Edward Island, but there is sadness mixed with joy as they leave loved ones behind, mainly men required to stay and fight for their country. 

Elina Lialiuk, who moved from Lviv, Ukraine in 2019, welcomed her mother and sister to P.E.I. on April 8, but her father is still back in the war-torn country.

In late March, Lialiuk received a letter saying that first her sister, then her mother, were approved for visas.

They left Ukraine two days later, and stayed with a family in Poland until it was time to travel to Canada. 

"We waited for it for a really long time, and it was a really stressful period in our life," said Lialuk's sister, Polina Salabai, recalling the family's reunion at the Charlottetown Airport.

"It was a really emotional moment. I started to cry, and my mother started to cry, and sister started to cry, and lots of hugs.

We are in the safe place. We are together. But our father is still there​​​​​​.—Polina Salabai

"We are in the safe place," she said. "We are together. But our father is still there, and we are worrying about him, and it's difficult to be calm and not nervous a lot because of him." 

Difficult goodbyes

Polina Salabai left behind a job and the students she was teaching to dance, who she calls her children. 

In the days before the war started, she was at a dance practice, preparing her group for an upcoming competition in Kyiv. Those plans ended abruptly.

"We understand that everything that we prepared, it's not actual now, and the main thing now is our safety and peace in our country," Salabai said. 

"For me, it was very difficult to say goodbye to my children, to my friends." 

She said many of her young students and her friends have also left Ukraine. 

"For now, I'm here and I need to provide my life here," Salabai said. "So I need to find a job. I need to build my life from the new page.

"In Ukraine I had a good job, had a lots of friends, a lot of important things in my life."

Different life

Polina's mother, Elina Salabai, said it is still sinking in that she is in Canada now, and how different life is here compared to Ukraine. 

"Because for now, in Ukraine, everybody is thinking about how to survive, just to save their lives and the lives of their kids," Elina Salabai said.

"My husband, I'm worrying about him a lot right now," she said. "He's in the western Ukraine, and he is doing a lot to help the army, to help the country. But I'm still worrying about his life, because right now it's dangerous."

Next week, Elina Salabai begins a new job working as a seamstress at a Charlottetown business that has been supporting fundraising efforts for Ukraine. 

"I'm very happy that I'm starting a new job next week," she said. "I am extremely grateful for the chance to be able to work here." 

"I want to be useful for Canada, and I want to feel that I can do something for this country, and also that I can help my family and my kids."

Elina Lialiuk said she's grateful to have her mother and sister with her on Prince Edward Island, but said it continues to be a stressful time for her family, including her seven-year-old son, Mark.

"He is worrying a lot," Lialuk said. "And when the war started, the first question was, 'What is going to happen to my grandma?' And when grandma came here, he is happy, but still he's asking about his grandpa.

I'm also worrying about our relatives who are still there, about all the fellow citizens—Elina Lialiuk

"We tell him that everything is going to be fine, that Ukraine is going to withstand and win for sure, because we've got the huge support from the whole world," Lialiuk said.

"But even myself, I'm also worrying about our relatives who are still there, about all the fellow citizens, because it's so heartbreaking to see what's going on there right now."

More families to come

Sergey Veselovsky, a Ukrainian man living on P.E.I, has invited five families and many friends to the Island, including his nephew and family.

Veselovsky said many people on P.E.I. have reached out to help him prepare for the arrival of the group, a total of 14 people in the next couple of weeks. 

"It's takes a little bit of effort, not only mine, actually lots of people," he said. "The Ukrainian community was helping a lot."

"We've got furniture, we've got plates, we've got dishes and so on," he said. "It's been a team effort from a number of fronts." 

His nephew, wife and five children are coming from a small city near Kyiv that was occupied by Russian forces and experienced great destruction.

"From one side, it's a relief to have them here, from the other side, that's a big challenge for them and for us," Veselovsky said.

"My nephew has a newborn," he said. "His wife delivered, I believe, just five days before it all started. So health care, work and so on. I have lots of concerns and fears, but it is what it is. We'll do it one step at a time."

A spokesperson for the Immigration and Refugee Services Association P.E.I. (IRSA) said between 20 and 30 individuals have arrived, or will arrive in the next couple of days, with a potential for more by the end of the month.