DAVIDSON, N.C. — It’s been over a year since Russia’s full-force invasion of Ukraine. The war has forced millions of people to flee the country. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed into the United States.
Olha Davydenko, her husband, and three kids left Ukraine in March of last year after the war broke out. They spent some time in Spain and through the 'Uniting for Ukraine' sponsorship program made their way to the United States and now call Davidson home.
“Davidson is such a great place for us,” said Davydenko.
It's a change from the life they left behind.
“They left behind a house and careers. The kids were promised acrobats and had professional training with aspirations to be in the Olympics,” said Inna Collins, who is helping with the translation.
They say their city was at the center of Russian attacks. The family hid in a basement for safety.
“About 5 kilometers from where they lived, there were active battles, tank battles, and shelling. They witnessed people trying to escape in their cars and they witnessed those people in their cars get bombed and people dying,” said Collins.
Davydenko said they were not prepared for all the devastation and the departure, but she knew they needed to get somewhere safe.
“The benefit of being in the United States is being in physical peace. You don’t have bombs going off around you,” said Collins. “But there’s still that internal battle of that disturbance that is ongoing that they left everything in Ukraine.”
Despite the trauma, they experienced Davydenko said her faith and knowing her kids are out of harm’s way keeps her going.
“They like to go to school and they have lots of friends here because it is usually easier for them to be here,” said Davydenko.
After living with their sponsor for a few months they have their own home. Furnished through donations and the generosity of the community. And they work to get back on their feet.
“They do realize that moving forward that everything will be different because they are not in their homeland,” said Collins. “They are in a country that speaks another language, different culture and traditions and they are orienting their kids with the idea of making this work here.”
Davydenko said there is a lot of uncertainty on if they will ever be able to go back to Ukraine but for now they are building their new life here in Davidson.