Ukrainian family grieves with home under siege

Svitlana Palahuta, her husband Ihor and their two boys left Ukraine in 2019 for a new life in Canada. Today, they fear for family and friends trapped in their hometown of Kakhovka, a port city on the Dnieper River in southeastern Ukraine, under occupation by Russian troops since late February.
Palahuta describes the war in this region as "rather quiet" for now with the bombing and shelling abated but says the Russians will not let humanitarian aid into her hometown. "They want people to die from lack of food and medicine, so this is also not really good; you know, people will die slowly. It's unbelievable, and we can't do anything. We want to help. We're ready to raise money for medicine and other stuff, but they can't get it because they are surrounded by the Russian army," she says in an interview from her home in Back Bay, which is on the road between St. George and the Deer Island ferry landing in Letete.
While she worries about people she left behind, Palahuta clearly admires Ukrainians standing up to the Russian forces since the start of the invasion, condemned by the United Nations, on February 24.
She knows people from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, where the fight continues despite steady air attack. She expresses frustration with the slowness of other countries to supply air support for the Ukrainian defenders.
"This is why we are all asking to close the sky over Ukraine, because it is the most important thing which can help to save civil life. War, yes, war is war, and our soldiers are like lions, they are fighting like lions," Palahuta says. "But from the air attacks, people die and children die ... not only from the bombs but when buildings crash down," she says, citing an incident where rescuers found the body of a girl under a collapsed building. "People [are] dying, so we really need to close the sky."
Ukrainians appreciate the military equipment, humanitarian aid and other support from the rest of the world, but Palahuta feels the response would be different if Ukraine belonged to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). "Because it's Ukraine and she's kind of not under anyone's protection, we are fighting by ourselves," she says.
"We believe it's a kind of terrorism, so how could the world stay aside? How?" Palahuta asks, comparing the Russian invasion of Ukraine to the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. "Ukrainians, they are the same human beings as America, and why our war is not like, so important, I don't know what to say."
The Palahutas -- Svitlana, Ihor, Makar, now 10, and Matviy, now seven -- came to Canada when Ihor accepted a job offer in 2019. Megan, 14 months, was born in Canada. Svitlana works for Cooke Aquaculture, and the Palahutas are among a number of Ukrainian families in Charlotte County who work for companies such as Cooke and Ganong Bros.
Kakhovka still has power, water and Internet service, but Palahuta says the Russians are trying to cut the electronic link to the rest of the world. "They want to cut them from the other part of Ukraine and the whole world and spread disinformation that the south of Ukraine part by part, town by town are [coming] on the side of Russia," she writes in a text message.
"This town is currently under occupation, and there is no chance of escaping. But you should know that they do not want to leave their homes and flee. They want to live in their homes, on their land, and most importantly in Ukraine. The first two or three days were very scary. There were bombings, artillery shelling, a lot of army equipment went around and through the city, so they had to hide in cellars, damp, dark basements, be on duty at night to wake the family in time, if anything. Now people are grouped together, helping each other, volunteers in the city helping the elderly, the disabled, children, everyone who needs help," she writes.
"But because they have been occupied since the beginning of the war, their supplies of food and especially medicine are already melting before their eyes, and because the occupiers do not allow any communication, they simply cannot get the medicine they need. The war on the part of Russia is being waged in various dirty ways. So where they don't kill by shelling, they kill by starvation," she writes.
Public demonstrations against the invaders across Ukraine including Kakhovka inspire her. "All people in Ukraine, and not only in my hometown and even not only in Ukraine, are ready to win. They know that the army and the leader of the country are defending them, their homes, their land, their will! They are united, purposeful, no one is left out, everyone helps as much as possible," she writes.
"It is the 13th day of the war, about 50 children have died and many more civilians, the exact figures you can see in official sources. How many more people have to die, children, so that world politicians can recognize this as terror!" she writes, repeating her call for other countries to counter the Russian air force.
On March 6 Orthodox Christians including many Ukrainians and Russians marked "Forgiveness Sunday," an annual church festival leading into the Orthodox Lent. "I can say that my heart is full of pain and not ready to forgive! Right now, I'm focused on how to help," Palahuta writes. "But I want to note that I am not in Ukraine now, and therefore I believe that I have no moral right to forgive, but my heart is with my parents, brother and his family, close friends, and I leave this decision to them; I will accept their decision, and I will always support it," she adds.
"We would like to help our families," she says in the interview. "If they choose to live in Ukraine, we want them to live in Ukraine, and we don't want them to live in a war. We want to stop war," she adds. "We didn't touch anything Russian - they came to our houses on our land, start shooting, and right now they want some negotiations. Go home. What negotiations? Go home. Home. Let us live in peace," she says. "It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable grief," she says.