BALTIMORE — Sharing a story about her family in Ukraine, Maria Kaczaniuk describes her cousin’s fear of never seeing her husband again after they decided to separate during the Russian invasion.
“They didn’t want to part,” she said. “It was so moving for her. She says I did not want to leave my husband there. I really felt l might not see him again.”
Kaczaniuk said she couldn’t hold back the tears while she listened to the frightening stories from her family members.
“They want to keep their country. They love their country. It’s their home. They don’t know another country,” she said.
But now her loved ones are confronted with a heartbreaking decision to either stay or flee the country they love dearly
“Refuge in different places could mean again family separation. [They] don’t know if they’ll be able to see each other again, don't know if they’ll find each other again. And don’t know where they’ll be held up at any time.”
Kaczaniuk is a first generation Ukrainian American. Her parents left the country decades ago
She’s one of many members of St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Baltimore where prayer services have been held to show their support for the people of Ukraine
For them, it’s a helpless feeling to be thousands of miles away, but they’re leaning on faith the conflict ends peacefully.
“They know that they can’t do anything from here. But they can pray and in prayer they find peace,” she said.
