As Orthodox Christians around the world prepare to mark Christmas this weekend, it’s a somber occasion for so many Ukrainians forced from their homes and country.
“It’s not the same as last year, that’s for sure,” said Nataliia Demiamenko, who moved to Calgary just over a month ago with her mom, mother-law, daughter and other family members.
“People don’t enjoy this time, all they can do is just believe and hope it’s going to end.”
Her city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine was pummeled by the Russian military during a month-long assault of bombing raids and missile fire.
Demiamenko fled north to Latvia with her seven-year-old daughter last spring.
“My mother and mother In-law huddled together in a basement for 28 days. They now get scared whenever they hear a plane flying overhead,” she said.
They may have left the imminent danger behind, but have been unable to escape the unrelenting pain of war.
“I think people who are coming here, they just want to live peaceful lives,” she said.
“They don’t want to suffer anymore.”
Few people have remained untouched by the violence. Demiamenko said she’s lost family members in the war, as have her friends.
“A very close friend of mine lost her child,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“They were trying to escape and the Russians attacked their car, her husband and eight-year-old daughter were shot.”
Demiamenko was an ESL teacher in Ukraine and now uses those skills to teach English to fellow evacuees arriving in Alberta.
She and her family are living with a host family in Okotoks. Finding permanent housing is proving to be difficult for many newcomers, however.
“We are struggling tremendously to support them,” said Yuliya Gorbach, chair of the Calgary Ukrainian Evacuee Welcome Committee.
“I have personally picked up two families from the homeless shelters who couldn’t find a place to live.”
Housing is just one of the major challenges for those arriving to Alberta. Many evacuees don’t speak English and it makes finding a job difficult.
Hundreds have taken a “survival English” course offered at St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Sobor church in Calgary, which Demiamenko helps teach.
The program is run entirely through donations, but Gorbach admits fatigue has been setting in.
“In the absence of income support for Ukrainian evacuees it’s a recipe for homelessness, hunger and human trafficking, so we try to bridge that gap to learn English to get employed. So far, 900 people have graduated from the survival English classes,” said Gorbach.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine to mark Orthodox Christmas, but it was rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
He said the country had no intention to stop fighting, calling the purported truce as a stunt by Moscow to buy time to reinforce troops that have taken heavy losses this week.
“Obviously Ukraine is not going to reciprocate — they see it as a propaganda move, but it will fizzle out,” said David Marples a historian and professor at University of Alberta, on Thursday.
On Friday, Russian and Ukrainian forces continued to exchange artillery fire on the front lines.
“The prognosis at the beginning of the war is that Ukraine would be destroyed within three days,” said Marples.
“Russia would take over Kyiv and Zelensky would be arrested — none of this has happened.
“There’s a lot of optimism compared to the start of the war.”
Russia has sustained heavy losses in recent days, including scores of troops killed on New Year’s Eve in the deadliest incident of the war it has acknowledged for its own troops.
There’s no denying the resolve of the Ukrainian people has not waned.
Despite all she’s been through, Demiamenko said she feels safe, supported and has much to be grateful for this Christmas season as she and her family start over.
Nataliia said she is overwhelmed by the support Canadian people have showed her.
“They have not turned their backs on us — everyone is so kind.”
Russia’s Orthodox Church observes Christmas on Jan. 7.
The main Orthodox Church in Ukraine has rejected the authority of Moscow, and many Ukrainian believers have shifted their calendar to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25, as in the West.
— With files from Olena Harmash and Herbert Villarraga, Reuters