US President Joe Biden visited Ukraine, speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy days before the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion.
Video / AP
Anger, denial and sadness are just some of the emotions 35-year-old Jenya Kostyrina has felt since Russia invaded Ukraine one year ago.
Kostyrina, who works as an assistant property manager, lives in Te Puke with her dad Valerii and mum Svitlana, who fled to New Zealand in November. The couple, both in their 60s, were granted the temporary 2022 Special Ukraine Visa.
“The first month I was here I was just crying every day - I didn’t know what to do with my life anymore. I convinced them to come here.”
Kostyrina returned to New Zealand in June after a stint working in Dubai. She planned to move to her hometown Lebedyn in the Sumy region of Ukraine but decided against it after the war began on February 24, 2022.
She had previously lived in Auckland for five years up until 2021.
Kostyrina said she still worried about extended family and close friends back home but, in her eyes, they were “heroes”.
Ukrainian woman Jenya Kostyrina alongside her mum Svitlana and dad Valerii. Photo / Supplied
“I still can’t believe it. It’s scary. I have been through sadness, anger, and denial. I am just trying to move on which is difficult - especially because everyone is still there,” she said.
“But I try not to think anymore about that stuff. I think about them as my heroes.”
Lack of electricity during the cold winter months was one of the “biggest problems” for her friends and families, she said.
She did not know how the country would heal from the loss of life and destroyed infrastructure.
“People are angry. How do you heal from that? People have seen and heard ugly stuff. I can’t believe we are in the middle of Europe and this is happening ...”
While she was grateful her parents were now safe, it was hard for them to “leave everything behind and start from scratch”, she said.
Murapara woman Galina Turisheva asked New Zealanders to continue to support people and animals struggling in Ukraine.
“They do need help. I’m happy that my parents are not alive anymore as it would so horrible for them to see what is happening.”
Turisheva grew up in the Kherson region of Ukraine after her family migrated from northern Russia when she was a baby.
She moved to New Zealand in 1992.
She was chairwoman of the All Paws Count Murupara Trust - a small charity that had raised roughly $20,000 for abandoned animals in Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
“There were so many animals just left by their owners who had to run from the area. It’s horrible,” she said.
Money had been distributed across multiple different shelters, she said.
Otumoetai Church of Christ pastor David Nelson. Photo / NZME
Ōtūmoetai Church of Christ pastor David Nelson, who spent six years doing missionary work in Ukraine, was feeling “mixed emotions” one year on.
While some of the initial shock had “worn off”, Nelson said he remained saddened by what Ukrainians were experiencing.
He and his wife carried out missionary work in Kharkiv near the eastern border with Russia from 2008 to 2014 and still have friends there and in other parts of Ukraine.
Many of his friends were displaced and had to farewell their wives and children who had fled to other parts of Europe, he said.
“It’s daily for them - they hear the air raid sirens, gunfires, and explosions in the distance.
“A lot of them are living in multiple places - they don’t have one fixed permanent home. They will stay in one area then travel to another city. Everyone is transient it seems, nothing is permanent - and that is a pretty hard way to live.”
At the same time, Nelson said he was extremely proud of the “courage and bravery” of Ukrainians who were “not giving up”.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky receiving an ovation from the Government benches after his address to Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Former Tauranga mayor Tenby Powell spent five months last year helping with aid efforts in Ukraine with his group Kiwi K.A.R.E.
Speaking on Friday, Powell praised Ukrainian soldiers, saying they were “resourceful and had a whole country behind them”.
He said, on reflection, the world “underestimated the resolve and capability of the Ukrainians” when the war started.
“The Ukrainians’ capability is significant - they are very, very good soldiers. For some reason, I don’t think we realised how battle-hardened they were.”
Powell urged people to keep in mind the gravity of the situation, describing it as an “unprecedented event that none of us thought we would see in our lifetime”.
“This is what we have got on our hands. We are talking about the senseless loss of life, destruction of buildings and property.
“We have seen war crimes ... human rights violations at a level that are unprecedented. This isn’t some special military operation, it is a war in every regard.”
