Family of Ukrainian man living in P.E.I. happy to reunite in Canada
CBC
A Ukrainian family says they're happy to be reunited once again in P.E.I. after three of them escaped the chaos that ensued from Russia's invasion of its western neighbour.
Oleg Bebeshko has been living on the Island since 2017. His family is from the Donetsk region, which in 2014 became engulfed in an armed conflict between the Ukrainians and Russian-backed separatists.
His mother, stepfather and mother-in-law, all of whom also had to flee Donetsk in 2014, have now been forced to leave Ukraine for good. They arrived in P.E.I. last week, after spending some time taking shelter underground while Kyiv was under siege.
"My mother and my stepfather, they were lucky. And they stayed [a bit more than] one day. When we spoke last time, they were on the evacuation train to the border with Hungary. A kind family close to the border, this family accommodated them and later they meet with my mother-in-law," Bebeshko said.
"There were lots of volunteers there, so these volunteers helped [them] to stay one night. I booked tickets for them and people help to reach the airport. They took a flight from Hungary, from Hungary to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Montreal and then to Montreal to Charlottetown, where we met them."
Bebeshko's mother-in-law Olha Domina said through her son-in-law that she didn't expect such a warm welcome from Canadians when they landed in the country still reeling from the shock of the war.
A local daycare even made a banner for them, displaying hand prints in the yellow and blue of the Ukraine flag.
The grandparents spent the weekend volunteering to help their country, sorting donations headed to Ukraine.
Bebeshko said other Ukrainian families with relatives outside Canada are also looking to bring them to P.E.I., but are waiting for new programs to come into effect which will make the process easier.
A new visa category has been created that will allow Ukrainians to come live, work or study in Canada for two years.
Bebeshko said the family will be looking to stay in Canada because they have nothing to go back to.
"They don't have any place to stay anymore," he said.
"Lots of people dying, civilian, women, kids. Bombings. So it's terrible."
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