A former Drumheller resident is making plans to head to Poland and possibly Ukraine to support members of his family going through the horrors of the war.
Anatolii Levkovytskyi and his family have been in Canada for 11 years. They made Nacmine home for three years before relocating to Prince Rupert. He is an arborist and operated Executive Tree Services. His wife Iryna Levkovytska was a nurse at the Drumheller Health Centre.
When the attacks on Ukraine began in February, he and his wife knew they had to do something. His parents and brother are living in a city called Khmelnytskyi.
“It’s not real fights over there, but they run every day to the bomb shelters, maybe 10 times a day,” said Anatolii, adding there has been bombing in the area, including the airport.
His wife Iryna also has her mother, sister, and three children who were living in Ukraine.
His wife has already departed Canada and is in Poland. Anatolii said last week his wife was united with her sister and her children in Poland. While her mother cannot leave due to medical reasons, they are hoping to bring the rest of the family to Canada. Her sister’s husband cannot leave because of an order by the Ukrainian government that men are to stay during the conflict to defend the country.
“Right now she is trying to figure out their documents, because they have nothing, basically. They have local id’s for Ukraine and the kids just have birth certificates,” he said.
Anatollii’s wife has started a Freefunder.com online fundraising campaign to help bring family home from Ukraine and help buy supplies and medications for those in her family who remain in Ukraine. So far, they have raised more than $7,000 on their way to their goal of raising $10,000.
Recently the Canadian Government committed to help the people of Ukraine who are fleeing. He says he has been trying to contact the government every day to get the support they need.
In speaking with Annotolii last week, he plans to go to Ukraine as well to help his parents.
“They need medication, and I need to see if everything is okay. And if the Russians push hard, my parents don’t have a car. They say they will stay, but it is not good,” he said.
His brother is fighting in the battles as part of the Ukraine Territorials Defense Forces. If he returns he is not sure if there is an expectation he would have to stay, but he says he will do what he can to help with the effort to help people.
He would like to see more support from the international community.
“My feeling is they are always late. How I feel, is if you are in Canada and all the neighbours come with a gun and occupies your shed. You call the police, and the police say we’ll ship you a helmet, maybe that will help you,” he said.
To help the family’s fundraising effort go to https://www.freefunder.com/campaign/help-save-my-family
