DETROIT – In 2022, a woman now living in Metro Detroit was hiding in cold, crowded basements across the Atlantic as the war in Ukraine raged above ground. This week marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a grim anniversary etched in her memory.
The refugee is sharing her harrowing story with Local 4.
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On Sunday, Valeriia Zaihraiko came to Hart Plaza with a Ukrainian flag wrapped around her. It’s a reminder of where she was just a few years ago.
“Four years ago, we came to America because we were really scared about the situation in Ukraine because rockets was everywhere,” Zaihraiko said.
She says her family has lived under Russian occupation since 2014. They are in the Lukansk Oblast region, one of the most dangerous areas.
“In 2014, I came to another city in Ukraine because I dreamed about a better life for me,” Zaihraiko said.
After moving from town to town, trying to outrun the terror of war, in 2022, she and her husband took a life or death rise. They escaped to Poland and then took the long flight to America, finally finding a new home near Detroit with a family who opened their doors and made sure they got here safely.
Their new community is tightly knit, mostly made up of fellow Ukrainians who know this pain all too well.
“We are trying to help each other and support, but my family is still in Ukraine,” she said.
Her family is over 5,000 miles away.
“I didn’t see them for five years and I’m just praying there will be a day when we can meet,” she said.
Praying for peace for them is what brought her to Hart Plaza for a rally marking the four year anniversary on Sunday.
“To remind that people are dying and still dying in Ukraine,” she said.
Though she’s so far away, she spends her days now creating art focused on home.
“It’s part of my country in my heart, I can do it here and show the people here that a piece of Ukraine is here,” she said.
She often posts her artwork on Instagram.