‘I would be really glad to be useful to the country’

Every day Tetiana Belko's call to her husband in Odessa begins with the same two questions - How was the night? Was it quiet? The worst thing is the unpredictability of the situation, she says when you have no idea what going to happen the next minute, never mind the next day.

Fresh from bringing her young son to school in St Mary's NS, Tetiana eloquently describes her worries for her husband, her home city, friends and family in Ukraine as she attempts to settle in the town of Athlone.

While it had been relatively quiet in Black Sea port city for some days, unfortunately, over the weekend after we spoke the city was bombed and the horrors of Bucha were revealed to the world.

“Odessa in recent days is quiet, but before that, it was very active and very worrying because our home is just on the Black Sea, just on the shore, and they were Russian ships shooting to shore. Several buildings were damaged severely. They were very close and that was really scary,” she explains on Friday last, prior to the weekend bombing.

“We just hope Odessa will be saved, it is a beautiful town with its own atmosphere and beautiful buildings. Just to imagine it could be destroyed is really hard. We have one of the beautiful opera houses and now when I see photos everywhere is military equipment and sandbags.”

Tetiana, who is known as Tanya, a shortened version of her name, expresses sheer disbelief that they are in this situation. For her, it is hard to comprehend too being at war with Russia, with whom they have so much in common, her own father is Russian and moved to Ukraine to be with her mother and her brother lives in Moscow.

“On February 24, we were awakened by bombing. That was such an incredible feeling. Now looking back at it, we had predictions but maybe we didn't want to believe,” she concedes, saying friends from other countries were advising her to leave for days watching events unfold on TV.

“For the first week we just hoped it would be over soon and they would come to some agreement and they would stop, so we didn't do anything. There was some military activity but it wasn't like Mariupol or Kharkiv, not that intense.

“We live in a residential area of Odessa and we have a park and next to that park we have a missile system. In the morning we woke up because that missile system started shooting. It was really loud and scary.

“In a few hours, around 10 in the morning, that missile system was bombed. It was a huge sound, an explosion, the windows in our home were shaking. Closer buildings their windows were broken. I just realised it was maybe one kilometre from us and that was so intense and so scary, that was one kilometre away. I thought what would it be like if it was here?”

It was then, she admits, that she knew they would have to leave to protect her kids Alina (15), now in Athlone Community College, and Tim (8).

While she hesitated, not wanting to be separated from her husband Pavel, who works in construction and is now engaged in making steel hedgehogs to stop Russian tanks from advancing, he convinced her that it would be more risky and dangerous if they stayed. “Saying goodbye was very sad and the children were crying,” she says, describing getting the 24-hour bus trip to Varna in Bulgaria on March 2.

“We crossed several borders and spent a lot of time there in queues. We arrived in Bulgaria and it was really nice to see people were being helpful,” she says, however, it was really cold, maybe -5, and while the building there wasn't prepared for that cold, they were just thankful for anything.

Realising it was not going to be over in a few weeks, and with no relatives abroad, where to go then was the next question to answer for the trained geologist, who since having her children switched to teaching Russian to foreigners back home, and more recently teaching English.

Having heard about Ireland and always wanting to visit, she figured it would be easier to communicate here with her language skills than other places.

“When I heard about Ireland it was like intuition, it immediately clicked.” What she didn't expect was the Irish to be so welcoming and friendly, and she's really happy with her choice.

She and her kids arrived exhausted to the Creggan Court Hotel on March 11, and were really touched by the welcome they received.

“My first impression was very good. Irish people were telling us the weather was really changeable and when we arrived, it was perfect. When we were in Varna (minus 1-5) so 12 or 13 was lovely.

“It was St Patrick's Day we saw the parade, it was lovely. It's a sweet European town. I really love the bright houses, pink, green - they are so nice. Odessa is bigger place, but being here I don't miss the hustle bustle. In Athlone, all necessary things are here,” she says.

Tetiana is really thankful to Manager Philip Byrne, as well as Marta who she describes as “an angel” and all of the hotel staff, Cllr Frankie Keena, and the many organisations who have reached out to them and helped them find their way in a new town.

“To see their wish to help, their care, I can definitely tell they are so involved and want to be supportive. That is very touching. Mentally, that's very helpful. When we were in Bulgaria people were helpful, all over Europe they were helpful, but emotionally Irish people are much more involved. I know we have similar history so that's why probably. I feel a better connection here,” she maintains, laughing that Ukrainians are quite active, and soon after arriving had lots questions about schools, getting work and sourcing their own accommodation.

“So far we are really thankful we have accommodation and all necessary things, but at the same time, I do not want to overuse this hospitality. I would be really glad to be useful to the country.”

With the kids occupied at school, Tetiana will have some free time and would love to find a job, and based on her education she's trying to figure out what it could be.

She hopes that her qualifications will be recognised here with some training or courses.

In that case, she hopes they would be able to find their own accommodation, however, Tetiana, who has been helping other Ukrainians as a translator, has learned about the housing shortage here and knows that will be difficult and expensive. She is keen to speak to anyone who can help in this regard.

While she understands why many Ukrainians hate anything Russian now, Tetiana feels hate is such a destructive feeling, especially knowing all Russians are not the same and many are completely against the conflict and not to blame.

And while some things are very hard to forgive, she is concentrating on kindness as she gets used to life in Athlone.

“I hope step by step, things will get back to how it should be,” she ends.