Sviatoslav Shumovych may have been calling Lambton County home for the last six months, but Ukraine is where his heart is.
The 37-year-old Ukrainian man has been living here since November, working as a farm technician, while his father remains in his home city of Zhytomyr, and his mother has fled to Slovakia.
"I told my parents when this started, because they had a choice to go to Slovakia or Canada, but they didn't want to leave," said Shumovych, "It's hard to leave, it's your land, your house. My mom moved to Slovakia not a long time ago and she was probably one week in Ukraine when it started, and she moved back to Slovakia. It's hard for her, she can't sleep, all the time thinking about it."
Shumovych told Sarnia News Today that he does plan to return to Ukraine, but is unsure what he'll go back to.
"It's still not ended and I can't say what it's going to be tomorrow, or even in one hour if I will have my house or not."
He said he feels helpless and wishes he could do more to help his country which has been under attack by Russia for five weeks.
"I'm feeling angry, feels like probably I'm not doing enough to stop it," he said. "A couple months ago I had surgery and I almost died, and that's the most reason why I can't go back home to go to the military or territorial defence. The only way I can help is to send money to Ukraine to help my family and my friends."
Shumovych said if residents want to donate to help humanitarian efforts in the country they can do so through the London Ukrainian Centre.
There's also local fundraiser on Saturday at St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Church. The Pysanky and Perogy Fundraiser features lessons on the art of making Ukrainian Easter Eggs, and perogies.
