‘Ireland has been amazing’

Aleksandr Zdrazhko’s sister was one of almost 40 people who died when an airstrike from Russian forces destroyed the local government offices in his home city of Mykolaiv on March 29.

She was one of 37 local government staff who died in the attack on Mykolaiv, a strategically important city on the Black Sea that is located a short distance from Odessa.

While men aged between 16 and 60 are currently legally obliged to remain in Ukraine, father of four Aleksandr was permitted to leave with his wife and children because of the size of his family.

His parents remain in Mykolaiv. They narrowly escaped serious injury or death when a missile that landed in the garden of their house failed to explode.

Decorating the rooms in Columb Barracks that have been allocated to the Association of Ukrainians in Ireland has helped keep him occupied and keep his mind away from worrying about his parents and the events in his home country.

Two of his children recently started in St Mary’s Primary School and are settling in well.

Grateful for the support that he and his family have received from the people of Mullingar, he decided to come to the town because his brother has lived here for a number of years.

Sergiy Balan is a member of the Association of Ukrainians in Ireland. Originally from the city of Vinnytsia in the centre of Ukraine, he has lived in Ireland for 20 years and is the manager of a mushroom farm in Cavan.

Busy juggling his day job with helping refugees such as Aleksandr’s family, like other members of Ireland’s Ukrainian community, he is worried about his parents, who like many elderly Ukrainians, have decided to stay in the country.

“My mother is 80 and my father is 85. They say: ‘This is where we will die. We will stay here’,” he said.

Sergiy says that he and other activists have been threatened by supporters of Russian president Vladimir Putin who live in Ireland. He believes that the phone messages have been sent by people who are from countries that were once part of the Soviet Union and still have an allegiance.

Nadjia Kriauklys has lived in Mullingar for nearly 20 years.

One of a small team of locally based Ukrainian and Russian speaking people volunteering as translators, she is happy to be able to help her compatriots as they try to rebuild their lives in Mullingar following the trauma of the last eight weeks.

With relatives still in Ukraine, she says that watching the tragic events unfold in her homeland has been difficult.

“My heart is broken, you know. I am very sad every day,” she said.

Nadjia says that she has been deeply moved by the compassion shown by the people of Mullingar and the rest of Ireland.

“They have a very big heart,” she said.

Sergiy says that “Ireland has been amazing.”

“It amazing what people are doing and what they are continuing to do,” he said.