LIVONIA, Mich – When they get to the border, Ukrainian refugees see all of the support pouring in from the rest of the world.
Haylna Potushik and her three daughters are safe in Poland, across the border from their home in Lviv, Ukraine, after making a run for it last week, before the bombing started.
“One of the tricky things is the complete unsettling,” said Pastushuk. “I don’t know what will be next.”
Potushik said goodbye to her husband for the dangerous journey west. She has no idea when she will say hello to him face to face.
“My husband couldn’t travel because the men 18-60 are not allowed to leave the country unless they are driving the car or if they are fathers of big families,” Potushik said. “But he also decided because someone had to stay and guard the house.”
Three weeks ago, Potushik was teaching Theology at Ukraine Catholic University.
On Monday (March 14), she and her three daughters are refugees with an uncertain future. But what she can say is everything being done in Michigan and in the United States and across the world, in what seems to be a universal war effort of Ukrainian Americans and every other American, to raise funds for humanitarian aid can be seen and felt on the ground in the actual warzone.
“I am deeply touched,” said Potushik. “Sometimes, it just moves me to tears when we cross the border on the Polish side at the special stations where mothers with young children could have some hot tea and some snacks.”
For those fighting for their lives, Potushik said, “Today in the morning, I was talking to my daughter, and she said that perhaps Russians may try something like using chemical weapons; she told my husband to make sure he had enough water and food in case he would have to stay for a long time.”
It is excruciating for Ukrainian Americans to see what’s happening to their homeland. It is difficult when they don’t hear from their loved ones fighting for their lives and for those fighting for their lives, not knowing what’s next.