Upper Lynn Canal communities have many connections to the people of Ukraine, one of them involves the medical director at Skagway’s community health clinic. He’s been in a long-distance relationship with a Ukrainian woman for the last four years. They haven’t met because of work schedules and the pandemic, and now the war threatens their chance at ever meeting. KHNS’ Mike Swasey reports.

Brent Kunzler came to Skagway last fall after traveling the world as a military medic. He met Nadia four years ago while he was stationed at Amundsen-Scott Research Center about 30 meters from the south pole. He says there wasn’t much to do there except search the web.

Kunzler – I was just online and came across Nadia.

Swasey – On a dating site? 

Kunzler – Yeah, on a dating site, Ukraine date.

Their relationship evolved over the next four years and now they talk most every day. He knows her kids: one boy, one girl, both under ten, through phone calls and video chats. 

On Friday, I got to speak with Nadia who is in the city of Zaporizhzhria in eastern Ukraine, the home of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. I asked her what life is like during the Russian invasion.

Nadia – Mike, I need to tell you that it is just nightmare. It started on 24th of February. I didn’t sleep all night and suddenly in the morning, five o’clock in the morning, I got a friend he’s working in police department and he was shouting me that Nadia stay home with children because started war. 

And in that moment near my flat, because I’m living on sixth floor, was flying near, close to my balcony, a rocket that was moving to airport. Thank God our airport didn’t suffer but still, it was very dangerous and scared for me. And all the people started to run everywhere, cars moving to to leave to the border. Of course, it started mess, real mess.

Sorry, I’m very stressful right now remembering all this. Ukraine is on the level to be destroyed. You know, I don’t, we don’t think that Putin will be stopped because he’s not that guy that will just leave everything. But our guys, our soldiers are all, everybody’s fighting him, every house, every flat, every man, every woman, everybody.

It was calm during like, four days. But today it was city’s signal of danger. And I have no idea what will be tomorrow or this night.

Swasey – Wow. Nadia, I can’t imagine just how incredibly stressful this has got to be for you. I’d like to ask you some things just about your personal surroundings and your city. First of all, where is your city?

Nadia – My city is east part of Ukraine.

Swasey – Are you in one of those areas that was already occupied by Russia?

Nadia – No, of course not. He took her Crimea. He took Donbas. He took her Lugansk. They tried. They tried to take Kharkiv also and they tried to come to our city. But our city, like, look, we are crazy people. We are from Cossacks line, you know? Our ancestors were Cossacks and when they came here in 2014, our people just made them go away. 

Swasey – What did you do, before two weeks ago? Did you have a business?

Nadia – Yes, I had a normal life. I have two children, I have my friends. I have a business here and I was planning to go to Kyiv to get USA visa to come visit Brent, because Brent is very busy with his work, new work. And I was planning to come to him, and war happened.

Swasey – Have you had to evacuate your home at any point during this last couple of weeks?

Nadia – Ah yes when the war started, I moved to my parents house. Because I live in block of flats and if rockets fly into the block of flats that will be just destroyed. So I decided to take children and go to my parents because they live in like private house on the first floor of course, and they have a ground floor where we could hide. 

And the five days that was the most dangerous for us and the city signals for danger were ringing all the time while we’re sitting there with my children. And it was horrible because my little daughter, she’s four years old, she was asking my father would she die? And was just a nightmare? When everything finished, like became more calm, I decided that I need to help our soldiers at least something, so I take my mom with me, and took my children and we return back home. So now I’m living in my home.

Swasey – And what sort of assistance are you giving the soldiers of the Ukrainian army?

Nadia – We are gathering money. We are buying food. We are buying uniforms because some of the soldiers, they don’t have it. And we can’t even sometimes we can’t buy something like hats, like gloves, like even socks. 

It’s impossible cars, the cars with goods, don’t come too much to my city. It’s lack of products. It’s hard to find like salt, usual salt here it’s hard to find. It’s hard to find some medical stuff like in drugstores, some pills, etc, etc. So we organize it so, also the problem is that a lot of shops closed.

Swasey – When you need food. Where do you go to get it?

Nadia – In shop, we can buy food, you can find meat, it’s hard, but you can find it. Still you know, the cars are briging it, but not too much. Not like usual. Like for example today, I couldn’t find chicken but there was a little bit of pork.

Swasey – And so the grocery stores are still open. Are other shops open as well? Or is it a very small amount of businesses that have remained open for people?

Nadia – Small amounts. Yes. Small amount, for example. Like nearly 30% maximum 40% of businesses are open. All the others have closed.

Swasey – How many people do you know have evacuated to other countries?

Nadia – From my people that I know, half of them for sure, they went.

Swasey – And how come you haven’t done that? 

Nadia – Um, I need to tell you that, first of all, I’m afraid of road because the road is dangerous, really dangerous. This is first one, second one, in my city now is calm. And I still pray and hope that everything will finish. 

In the car, there’s all the fuel, and I’m just ready to go in every moment. For now I can give help to people that, that need it. So, I think they need me.

Swasey – If you can look into the future, what do you think one year from now will look like for you and for your country?

Nadia – To be honest, I think that, I really hope that, soon everything will be finished. I think that this situation will be an opportunity for the whole world to deal with Putin.

Swasey – Nadia, thank you so much for taking the time and talking to me, and all of us here in Southeast Alaska. You know I wish you only the best of luck and Godspeed.

Nadia – For me but it was also a pleasure to tell you the whole situation, the whole truth, how it sees from here. I am really happy that I could share it with you.

For his part, Brent has joined the Ukrainian Foreign Legion and though he thinks he may be too old to help, if they ask him, he says he’ll go. Or if she can find her way to Poland, he says he’ll go there, pick Nadia and the kids up, and bring them all back to Skagway.