'We just don't know what is next': Ukrainians in Cork react to Zelenskyy address
Tetiana Petrenko and her daughter Polina, 3; Anna Shvydko and her son Myron, 5; and Anastasia Musienko and daughter Taisia, 4, watched Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address on TV at the Kingsley Hotel, Cork. Picture: Larry Cummins
They sat in hushed silence, some holding their head in their hands, others with tears in their eyes, as their president told Irish politicians about the horrors of war in their country.
Strangers before last Saturday who now share a heartbreaking bond none ever wanted, this group of Ukrainian war refugees gathered in the Kingsley Hotel, their home for the next few weeks, to watch Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s historic speech to the joint houses of the Oireachtas.
It was difficult to hear his voice over the interpreter, but that didn’t matter, they said.
What mattered was that Irish politicians were listening, that the hotel had created a space for them to watch it on their own, and more importantly, that Ireland has welcomed them, given them sanctuary.
In the quiet of the hotel’s bar, which was cordoned off for Zelenskyy’s address, the younger children played with dolls or watched YouTube videos on their mothers’ phones while the adults watched and listened, trying to make sense of it all.
Olha Peregineks, a staff member at the hotel originally from Ukraine, and who is liaising closely with the new guests, tried to remain composed during Zelenskyy’s speech, but still the tears came.
She wept quietly and dabbed her eyes discreetly as she thought of her family members still in western Ukraine and of her uncle and aunt in Russia — a family caught on either side of this brutal conflict.
“I am thinking about what happened in Bucha, about my country and my family,” she said.
Tetiana Petrenko and her daughter Polina, 3; Anastasia Musienko and her daughter Taisia, 4; and Anna Shvydko, who fled with her son, Myron, 5, sat in one corner of the room, sending messages to family and friends back home.
All strangers before Saturday, their children now play together as friends, as they all try to help each other find their way, and their feet, here in Ireland.
“We are glad to see our president on TV here, and Ireland has made us feel very welcome,” Anna says, with the aid of a translation app on her iPhone.
A nurse from the shattered city of Kharkiv, she said she hopes to find work here, but that’s a few weeks down the line. The priority now is her child, and her husband who has stayed in Ukraine.
Tetiana, a dental assistant, shrugs when asked about her future.
“We don’t know,” she says.
Anastasia, who was working as a childcare worker in Kiev until last month, hopes she can put her training and qualification to good use here, but she can’t think more than a week ahead.
And she is worried too for her husband, who is in the Ukrainian army and who has been defending the capital since the Russian invasion began 42 days ago.
As Zelenskyy finished his speech with the traditional Ukraine salute, ‘Slava Ukraini’, the mothers, and all in the room, applauded and responded: “Heróyam sláva” — glory to the heroes.
It was a muted applause and response, as the enormity of their new life, their new reality, hit home.
As Irish politicians took to their feet to support to President Zelenskyy and pledged ongoing supports to Ukrainians who have arrived here, the focus of the Ukrainians in the Kingsley drifted from the TVs back to the practicalities of life — keeping their kids fed and entertained, finding them a school place, and sourcing social welfare and healthcare facilities.
But ultimately, they all just want to go home and live a normal, peaceful life.
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