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When Russia invaded their country, a Ukrainian couple who now live in Manly, Kyrylo Kucherov and Katia Samokisha, acted fast to get their family out.
Katia and Kyrylo emigrated to NZ when Kyrylo was offered a job, and moved to the Coast in January 2020 with their son, Oskar.
Kyrylo’s parents and Katia’s mother and brother were all living in Kyiv. Katia’s mother, Oksana Samokisha, says the bombing began in the middle of the night.
“It was devastating. The sky lit up red and orange. At first we thought the explosions were a weapons storage facility that was on fire.”
The bombs kept falling – the family home is near two airports which were targeted.
“We followed on social media what was happening – people were afraid to come out of their homes,” Oksana says.
Once the city’s residents realised it was an invasion, panic set in with long queues forming for food, medicine and petrol.
Meanwhile, Katia and Kyrylo were awake all night in Manly, encouraging their families to get out quickly and head for Poland. They also applied for special Ukrainian visas, which the government issued.
Kyrylo’s parents Valeriia and Yurii, say the bombing was distant at first, but they saw the queues for essential goods on TV and social media and realised what was happening.
At first, Yurii says, they were reluctant to leave, but Kyrylo and Katia persuaded them.
“We grabbed whatever we could from our wardrobe, our documents, and our cat,” Valeriia says.
The drive to Poland, which would normally take around 15 hours, was a scary 72-hour trek. Bombs and shells were falling nearby, and the lines of cars filled with escapees were often stationery for hours.
On the journey, Katia and Kyrylo’s families met up and continued to Poland together.
There, they stayed with friends until their visas came through.
The three of them flew to New Zealand together in April.
Katia’s brother Kostia, aged 33, like all other men aged 18-60, had to stay.
Katia says her brother has been working hard to help people escape, as a volunteer on the Polish border with Western Ukraine. He is in regular touch with the family.
They are all worried about everyone they have left behind, hearing stories of the horrors they are facing.
“We are very grateful to be able to come to New Zealand, and work,” Oksana says.
She found a job at a restaurant in Manly, which Katia says is helping her integrate and learn English. She and Katia are also hoping to start a catering and takeaway business cooking Ukranian cuisine (look for ‘Ukrainian feast catering page Varenyky’ on Facebook).
“We made a Ukrainian feast at home recently to thank our neighbours for their support and it went down really well,” Katia says.
Yurii is an IT specialist and is able to work from home for Vodafone.
They are all studying English.
Katia and Kyrylo say the support they have had from the local community, especially their neighbours, has been heart-warming.
They have also become an active part of the wider Ukrainian community in Auckland since the war began.
Recently the bombing of Kyiv increased in intensity.
“We all understand that if any European country fights for us, it would be the beginning of World War 3,” Katia says. “Therefore the only thing they can do is send weapons as best they can, and teach our soldiers to use them. Many people are also raising money to pay for vehicles for the military, ambulances, ammunition, medical kits and humanitarian supplies.”
“When my mother was growing up, older people used to say that everything would be good as long as there was not another war. Unfortunately, war came and now the future is uncertain.”
Local support for Ukraine: Students at Coast schools, including Whangaparāoa College, took part in the Aroha for Ukraine project, writing poems, letters and creating artwork to offer messages of hope, peace and friendship for the children of Ukraine.
Bake sale: Katia, her neighbours and friends from the Coast, and Ukrainians from all over Auckland, held a bake sale at a market in Auckland to raise awareness and money. Ideally she would like to run a bake sale at the Ōrewa Farmer’s market, but has so far been unable to obtain a spot there.
Photos of the war: Katia is part of a team organising an exhibition of photos taken during the Russia-Ukraine war by professional photographers and has been held in other cities around the world. The exhibition will be held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, with no opening date available as yet.
