Peters Township family fears for loved ones’ safety in Ukraine
Courtesy of Kateryna Zhykharska
Kateryna Zhykharska, her husband, Artem Zhykharskyy, and sons visited Kyiv, Ukraine, in June 2019 for the baptism of her niece. Kateryna’s parents and sister, and Artem’s parents and brother, remain in Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on Feb. 24.
courtesy Kateryna Zhykharska
Kateryna Zhykharska of Peters Township, and her sons, on an outing with her family, who visited from Ukraine in 2019. From left, her father, Oleksandr Kotelevskyi, son Michael, Zhykharska, her mother, Natalia Kotelevska, her sister, Anna Kotelevska, niece, Masha, and son, Pavlo.
courtesy Kateryna Zhykharska
Kateryna Zhykharska and her husband, Artem Zhykharskyy, hosted her parents, who live near Kiev, Ukraine, on a visit in 2019. From left in the back row are Artem, Zhykarhaska’s son Pavlo, her mother, Natalia Kotelevska, and Kateryna. In front are her son, Michael, the family cat, and her father, Oleksandr Kotelevski. Kateryna and Artem worry for the safety of her parents and their families, who are in war-torn Ukraine.
Courtesy of Kateryna Zhykharska
Kateryna Zhykharska, middle, surrounded by her family and parents in their Peters Township home during a 2019 visit. Front row are her sons, Michael and Pavlo. Far left is her husband, Artem Zhykharsky. Her father, Oleksandr Kotelevski, is right, and her mother, Natalia Kotelevska, is in the back.
courtesy Kateryna Zhykharska
Kateryna Zhykharska of Peters Township, in between her parents, Oleksandr Kotelevski and Natalia Kotelevska, on a trip to Phipps Conservatory
Kateryna Zhykharska has barely slept or eaten in more than a week.
Since President Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Zhykharska, a Peters Township resident who was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States with her husband, Artem Zhykharskyy, in 2014, has spent hours glued to news coverage and following social media reports of the escalating war in her homeland.
Both of the couple’s parents are trapped in their apartments in a Kyiv suburb, and their siblings – her sister and Artem’s brother – and their families have fled the capital for Lviv, near the Polish border.
Zhykharska’s fear for the safety of their loved ones grows by the minute, as Russian bombardments leave buildings in ruins and the number of civilian deaths and casualties, including children, mounts.
“It is devastating. Physically, my body is here, but my mind and soul are over there right now,” said Zhykharska. “I could never have imagined all of the feelings which are running through my mind and body.”
Zhykharska hasn’t had direct communication from her parents or in-laws since Thursday, she said.
Her father, Oleksandr Kotelevskyi, texted her sister, Anna Kotelevska, early Friday morning. It was one word, “ALIVE.”
“I pray every morning for my country and for the people in Ukraine. I am constantly monitoring the situation, but I want to try to be more productive and do what I can do to raise maximum awareness of what is going on,” said Zhykharska, who spoke at the recent peace rally in downtown Pittsburgh, which was attended by hundreds. “America seems far, but it’s not far enough to think we are safe here. The person who is responsible for this cannot conquer Ukraine the way he was thinking, so he started obliterating cities with civilians. He is capable of anything, and he made it clear that all options are on the table, including his nuclear arsenal.”
Zhykharska and her husband, both software engineers, were born and raised in Donetsk, a part of the Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine, but left to put down roots in Peters Township in 2014, after Russian troops occupied that territory.
Kateryna’s and Artem’s parents and families chose to move close to Kyiv.
In mid-January, with a Russian invasion looking more possible, Zhykharska asked her parents, who planned to visit in March, to move up the visit.
“My mother said, ‘I don’t know, we’ll see,” Zhykharska recalled. “She said, ‘I will not survive running away one more time.’ They had to flee from Donetsk and relocate. It’s too hard for them to experience this again because of one person.”
For the Rev. John Charest of St. Peter and St. Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Carnegie, watching the destruction from more than 5,000 miles away is painful.
“It’s hard to watch from afar. If you have family over there, it’s hard to watch the news stories because you know the struggles of the people you’re watching are the struggles that your family is having, too,” said Charest, who teared up when he talked about fathers saying good-bye to their children at the border and then heading to fight the Russian military. “Seeing pictures of places that we know, places we’ve visited, being destroyed is crushing.”
Charest and his wife, Laryssa, who are both Ukrainian, are in the process of adopting three Ukrainian children who can’t get out of Kyiv. Their apartment doesn’t have a basement, so neighbors invited the children and their foster father to stay in their basement when shelling happens.
The Charests have been in communication daily with the children, an 11- and 13-year-old girl and a boy who turns 10 on March 8, sometimes limited to a thumbs-up emoji.
“Right now, they’re running out of supplies,” said Charest. “He won’t have a birthday cake because there’s no flour. I hope he has bread to eat.”
Dmytro Reva, who was born in Ukraine and briefly lived in Canonsburg a decade ago, exchanges messages with friends daily, including a close friend who served with him in the Ukrainian army in the 1990s.
“I call and text him every day and ask, ‘Are you alive today?’ He says, ‘Yes, we are alive,’ and talks about his wife and his 6-year-old son, who has Down syndrome and needs special medication that they can’t get. He’s thinking what to do next week, how to get medicine,” said Reva, who now lives in Miami, Fla.
Charest urges people to continue to support Ukraine however they can – sending donations, attending rallies – but he especially asks for prayers for peace.
“We don’t need any more division or hatred, or anger toward Russian people. Russians don’t support the war,” he said, noting Russian Americans who have faced backlash as a result of the war. “We’re praying for peace and we’re praying for the end of the war.”
Zhykharska and her husband, and their two sons, Michael and Pavlo Zhykharskyy, who are 14 and 12 years old, last visited Ukraine in June of 2019, for Zhykharska’s niece’s baptism.
In the fall of 2019, Zhykharska’s parents flew to her Peters Township home, and the family enjoyed sightseeing in Pittsburgh and took a trip to Niagara Falls.
Zhykharska limits the information she shares with her sons; Michael is 14, Pavlo is 12.
“I don’t want to sugarcoat it and tell them everything is fine, because it is very serious and we don’t know when is the next time they can see their grandparents,” she said.
Zhykharska and Charest, like many across the world, are moved by the courage and bravery of the Ukrainian men and women fighting to defend their country.
Charest, reflecting on their strength, referenced the Ukrainian flag, yellow for wheat and blue for the sky.
“For wheat to be grown, it first has to die. I’ve been staring at the Ukrainian flag outside my window, and I think the wheat represents the resolve of these people, who are willing once again to lay down their lives for this country,” said Charest. “They are the wheat of Ukraine, and Ukraine will rise again.”
Note: As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues, Southwestern Pennsylvanians have offered an outpouring of support for Ukraine and Ukrainian people. Here are a few ways you can help.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA is collecting money for medical supplies. Visit the website at www.uocofusa.org
Saint Peter and Saint Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church is collecting hygiene products and non-perishable food items, in a joint effort with Nataliya European Food Market in Pittsburgh. Suggested items include diapers, wet wipes, hygiene products, feminine products, hand warmers, protein bars, wrapped cracker packs, water purifying tablets, nut packets, dry cereal, fruit pouches, jerky, peanut butter, small canned items with pop tops, and plastic utensils. Also, medical supplies for first-aid kits are being accepted. Clothing is not accepted.Drop-off is at St. Peter & St. Paul Church at 220 Mansfield Blvd., Carnegie, Pa., 15106, or Nataliya Market, 4370 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa., 15217.
The Ukrainian Cultural and Humanitarian Institute compiled a list of organizations which are providing aid to Ukraine. Visit the UCHI website at www.https://uchi-us.weebly.com/information–aid-to-ukraine.html.
Other organizations accepting contributions are Global Giving (globalgiving.org) and Doctors Without Borders (doctorswithoutborders.org).