Viktoriia Shaniuk was 11 when she left Donetsk. Her mother, Larysa Samosonok, decided to move the family to Kyiv before fighting in the Donbas region between Russsian-backed separatists and Ukraine’s military intensified.
Seven weeks ago, when the Russia invaded Ukraine, Viktoriia (19) packed all her belongings again.
“When I was 11 the move felt cool, I was excited about it,” the university student said. “I could stop school before the educational year was finished and I could go see my granny. When I saw all the children on the Polish border I could see they felt the same way I did when we left Donetsk. For them it’s an adventure and maybe it’s better that way. In 10 years, like me now, they’ll understand what was really happening.”
When the war broke out, Dr Samosonok received a call from friends in Cork. The former vice-rector of Donetsk National University of Economics had visited the city numerous times for work at University College Cork (UCC). Her former colleagues offered to help and two weeks later she and her daughter were in the city.
They are staying with a family near Middleton and Viktoriia is continuing her studies in Korean, English and German online. However, if they stay in Ireland, she would like to enrol in an Irish university in September.
“It’s hard to study a language online, you need to practice. I can learn the theory and grammar but I’ll never be able to speak it.” Viktoriia finds Ireland “beautiful and friendly” but can’t stop thinking about her friends back in Kyiv.
“Maybe 60-70 per cent are now in the military because of a lot of my friends are boys. I’m proud but I’m also sorry for them. I never wanted life to be like this. I don’t want them to be in the army, it’s awful,” she said.
Dr Samosonok has spent the past few weeks setting up a Welcome to Ireland course for Ukrainian students through UCC’s adult continuing education department, which launches next week.
“We got a lot of letters from students around Ireland and most of them are continuing online education but they also want to start face-to-face education here,” said Dr Samosonok.
When asked about her hopes for the future, Viktoriia says she is scared to make plans.
“I’m in this strange situation now where I don’t even know what I’m going to do tomorrow, next week or next month. I’m afraid if I make plans now they’ll disappear.”
Natasha Bilan (10) is far more optimistic about the future. She and her mother, Lana Burlachuk, left their home in Chernivitsi in southwestern Ukraine about a month ago and now live with a host family in Raheny.
Natasha attends the local school with the daughter of her host family, who is also in fifth class. Her mother, who ran a beauty salon in Ukraine, is working in SuperValu.
Natasha says “everyone is so friendly”. She speaks broken English but understands nearly every word her mother speaks in English and nods enthusiastically when her mother mentions the trip they have planned to the zoo followed by kayaking.
Her favourite subjects are Maths and English and she will start hip-hop classes at a dance school in Fairview after Easter. But the young student misses her friends and the Yorkshire terrier she left behind in Ukraine.
Ms Burlachuk admits the last few weeks have been “very stressful”.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen in our city, we just ran and our friends told us to come here. I like everything here but I worry about accommodation in the future because it’s so expensive. But I have hope, I think the war will stop soon and Ukraine can go back to being a nice country.”
