By Andy Valencia
The Russia-Ukraine war has touched millions of lives. Who can make sense of lives being disrupted at such a scale? But the Loop had an opportunity to interview a remarkable young woman from Ukraine who literally heard the first shots of the war. Currently living on Vashon, she gave us a peek of the personal experience of a major conflict.
Olga was born and raised in Ukraine, scant miles from the border with Russia. On the other side of that border is a land which, for her whole life, has been led by Vladmir Putin. Andropov and Gorbachev and Yeltsin are just names from history. Over that border is Putin’s Russia.
The memory of being a part of the USSR is still very present to Ukrainians. The closer you get to the eastern border, the more Russian as a language is present in all layers of the culture. Many families – including Olga’s – have entire branches of genealogy leading back deep into Russia. Although the younger generations can speak Russian, most consider the Ukrainian language and culture their native ones. The memory of being a dominated and subservient satellite of the USSR still strongly colors how they view Russia. Olga sees Russia as a mostly poor nation, with just a few glittering cities like Moscow. To her, rejoining Russia would be a path back to the grinding poverty they knew so well in the USSR.
Olga’s life in eastern Ukraine would be familiar to any middle-class American. There are people with fine houses and cars, but also people of modest means. Olga, in her 20s, owned a cafe with her partner and boyfriend. The cafe featured a pair of raccoons–Bart and Lisa, a memorable part of any customer’s visit. In Ukraine, raccoons are exotic, along the lines of how a meerkat or lemur might be in the United States.
The events leading up to Russia’s “Special Military Operation” were just a background to Olga’s life. The 2014 revolution was a way to keep a pro-Russia president from taking Ukraine back towards Russia; the Minsk Accords were treaties of little import, undermined by the general lack of trust in Putin. As a recurring theme going back to at least 1992, there was a desire to join NATO and finally gain a formidable military guarantee against any future aggression from the East.
“If you can look go back in history and just look at what Russian did to Ukraine. It was always their purpose to destroy Ukrainian culture–or any other culture.”
(All quotes in this article are Olga’s own words from our interview with her.)
But Ukraine was not a member of NATO when the situation came to a head in February of 2022 – Russian forces, massed on the border, entered Ukraine as a “Special Military Operation.” Olga, living so close to the border, was one of the first to hear the shots of this conflict. She woke to the sound of something a little bit like fireworks – but different, too. It was rockets, missiles, artillery, and her phone lit up as all of her friends and neighbors also awoke to this new chapter of Ukraine-Russian history.
“When the war began, it was around 4 a.m. on February 22. And after everyone who could called me and said that it was really happening — we went to work at the café that same day. First, because we couldn’t leave the raccoons alone. And second, because we didn’t know what else to do. The hope that it might be some kind of mistake, or that it would only last a day — that hope didn’t fade for at least two months.”
She adapted even as she hoped the conflict would end soon. Olga began a volunteer effort to gather supplies to help both civilian as well as military Ukrainians impacted by the war. Her cafe had an actual bunker underneath, and many was the time she would gather civilians from the street to offer the safety of the bunker during incoming military strikes.
“Well, this is what we’re trying to do. This is what we’re fighting for. Because, Russian doesn’t want Ukrainian culture, Ukrainian langauge, Ukrainian traditions, Ukrainian name. So we’re pretty much fighting not for our land, not for our houses, not for our homes. It’s also about being able to be Ukrainian, not die as a nation. Having our culture, having our traditions. It’s really important.”
Wars have a beginning and an ending, but when you’re in the middle of one, they seem endless. And at some point, Olga was worn out with the cares of her cafes and volunteering. Her landlord had plans for that bunker. It was time to go. She found a place to keep her raccoons (they’re still fine as of this writing), packed her car with her possessions, and started driving west.
Olga noticed something interesting about being a refugee. Some people sneer at a “refugee” driving a high-end Mercedes or BMW, where they feel sympathy for somebody in a smaller, cheaper car. And yet war is a great equalizer; its bombs will kill you no matter what numbers the bank prints on your deposit slip. You take your car – fancy or otherwise – and you drive away from the danger.
Olga noticed another dichotomy having to do with danger. She enthusiastically supported Ukraine’s military defense, and hoped that her country would assemble a large military force and repulse Russia. And yet she also hoped her own boyfriend could avoid being drafted, or at least avoid serving at the front where he might well be wounded or killed. She accepted both perspectives as just the natural human reality when faced with terrible danger.
Proceeding out of country, Olga eventually earned a degree in Spain. With the war grinding on, she eventually took advantage of a US temporary refugee program. Olga was provided not just a room in a house, but her own personal cottage, which the family built just for her.
“I met a friend whose parents offered help using the refugee sponsorship program for Ukrainians, and in the end, that family didn’t just help me with the paperwork — they quite literally became my American family.”
She is profoundly grateful for the support she’s experienced while living here on Vashon. Not just her housing, but her jobs and the kindness she has experienced throughout the Island. She hears “Glory to Ukraine!” (Слава Україні!) and its answer “To the heroes – glory!” (Героям слава!). Along with the Ukraine flags she sees, it assures her that the conflict, so many thousands of miles away, is not forgotten in the US.
Islanders are always looking for other ways to support Ukraine, but it can get tricky. Olga herself still has her bank card from her account back in Ukraine. She can be paid here on her US card, transfer it to her Ukraine one, and then send funds to support people and organizations back in her homeland. She doesn’t feel any need for more personal support, but worries about her fellow Ukrainians who are less capable with English, or aren’t able to use search engines to navigate their new lives in the US. The Loop interacted with a Ukrainian support organization in Seattle, and we’ll post contact information at the bottom of the web version of this article.
What does the future hold? At some point, the end of the war. And Olga does plan to go back, although she appreciates how much damage has occurred, and hopes to hold off until the first critical rounds of rebuilding are completed.
And therein lies one of the ugly hidden realities of wars and the rebuilding that follows – who pays, and with what? Olga has a resigned, realistic view of what might be needed; some of Ukraine’s resources will be given up to cover the coming costs. This will most likely include farmland, which she notes – with pride – is the finest farmland in the world. During World War II, the Nazis even loaded railcars with this topsoil, sending it back to Germany!
“Ideally in the perfect world, you don’t want other countries owning land in your country. But from an economical point of view in the situation where Ukraine happens to be, that would be our safety. If countries start to invest money in Ukraine, that will force the economy start to work more and more. Where, at some point, we actually can jump in that car that was being pushed and actually go.”
Olga’s connection to Vashon started with the war’s start. And it will wind down as the war ends. Her legal status is up for review later this year, adding extra anxiety.
What does she think about the terms required to end the war? Her heart says Ukraine must take back all of its territories and emerge intact from this conflict. She accepted the idea of fighting a war, even as she shied from the idea of her own boyfriend fighting on the front lines. And now her society has a similar dichotomy to navigate.
Those who have lost friends, sons, and husbands want to see the war fought until Ukraine is restored in its entirety. To end with parts of Ukraine ceded removes meaning from the terrible loss of their men. And yet, those who still have friends, sons, and husbands are loathe to see their own men headed off into this same terrible danger.
Perhaps these ambiguous feelings are an inevitable result of lethal force at such scale. We appreciate Olga making herself available for an interview, and it’ll be the Island’s loss when she takes her considerable talents back to Ukraine. We’ll finish with her own words about going back:
“I’ll go back to my city. I like it a lot. I really do. Very spicy. I have a lot of connections there, that will probably be easier to find a job there. And I like my city a lot. Just, people there are just … (laughs fondly).”
We at the Loop are grateful to storyteller, humorist, and Island Voice, Daniel Hooker, for introducing us to Olga. In addition to Andy’s interview above, this issue also features a companion story by Daniel Hooker, “There’s No Place Like Home – A Ukrainian Woman’s Journey – Raccoons and All, Part 1.”
