Ukrainians in Adelaide safe haven torn as Russian attack continues
A young boy sheltering in the Ukranian apartment left by Diana Sturko’s mother is so traumatised by the Russian assault on his home in Mariupol that he stopped speaking.
“My mother has an apartment in a safer zone and she gave it to people from Mariupol when they lost their home,” Diana tells InDaily in Adelaide, as she describes the intense trauma inflicted by Russian shelling of their coastal city that killed thousands of civilians.
“Their son did not speak for a long time and when he spoke again the only word he says over and over is destroyed, destroyed.”
A civilian walks through shattered Mariupol in April. Photo: Sergei Bobylev/TASS/Sipa USA
There are tears as the young Ukrainian doctor speaks of university friends in southern Ukraine now armed to defend their homes. Of the shock of learning the Russian army was invading and the feeling of despair in deciding to leave via Poland with her mother, husband Stepan and children, Oleksandr, three, and Andriana, one.
On April 14, the Sturko family arrived in South Australia with two suitcases and two backpacks, and every day since Diana has anxiously checked on the safety of friends and family back home. The couple experiencing the added trauma of an agonising decision to leave Ukraine for the sake of their small children’s safety.
Despite living in donated clothing and accommodation, Diana continues to contribute what money she can to the Ukrainian effort.
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“I feel bad when I read the news, I give the money for one coffee for the army each day… I’m in Australia, I’m safe, they need the money now,” Diana says.
She describes friends in Ukraine who no longer “wear beautiful clothes or play music or drink coffee” as they deal with constant bombing and attacks. One of Stepan’s friends lived in a basement for two weeks without adequate food.
In the warmth of the Ukrainian Community Hall in Hindmarsh, the young couple and their children are surrounded by others who have fled their country.
Volunteers are making coffee and sharing donuts, and a team of coordinators are organising ways to support some 400 people now taking refuge in Adelaide.
Bern Belej is team leader of the Association of Ukranians in SA community support team.
She tells of a dance school and a community goods shop downstairs providing clothing, linen, furniture and toys for Ukrainians affected by the Russian invasion of their country on February 24.
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A volunteer is helping students in an English language class nearby, while Tania Jarema-Norton describes the difficulty in finding enough accommodation for arrivals despite incredibly generous gestures from South Australians.
“Many have offered a spare room, a garden studio, one landlord offered a rental property for six months. We have individuals, families, some whose husbands have had to stay behind, grandparents,” Tania says. “Accommodation is the main thing we need.”
Diana and her family are living in a home in Blair Athol whose owner has a mother from Ukraine. He lives in Ardrossan and wanted to share a vacant house for a few months.
Others are living with volunteer host families or with friend and family connections, most unable to work or pay for rental accommodation until visas are recognised.
Financial support is still coming. Human Services Minister Nat Cook this week announced another $200,000 grant for the Australian Refugee Association to provide support like emergency financial relief and financial counselling for new arrivals from Ukraine and Afghanistan.
It is part of a State Government package that has already delivered $175,00 for the Association of Ukrainians in SA to support volunteers and the community.
Another $1.8 million in medical supplies has been facilitated by the Department for Health and Wellbeing to be distributed to hospitals and humanitarian aid centres in Ukraine.
When the war broke out, Diana and Stepan were living in Poland near the Ukraine border for a few months as Stepan worked on a short-term IT contract for his company.
Stepan tells of their shock. Of frantic days following as he searched for medical supplies, food, and helping to install the internet capability for Ukrainians donated by Elon Musk, to help the war effort.
And he tells about leaving without being able to go to his home and see his father and family still in Ukraine.
“I called my father to tell him we can get out of Ukraine and he said no, I live in Ukraine and I stay here,” Stepan says.
“When we first arrived in Australia, for weeks, I kept going, it was run, run, run, my aunt said to me, don’t run any more, we are safe, we are in Australia now.”
If you would like to help: https://helpukrainiansaustralia.com.au/
