ESTEVAN — The Hrynko family, originally from Kyiv, arrived in Estevan this summer to escape the Russian war.
Shortly after Andrey Hrynko joined his mother Elena and sisters Vladislava, 19, and Veronika, 14, in Estevan after graduating from a Polish university where he was studying when the war broke out, he received good news. He was accepted to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Not only did he receive an opportunity to further his education to a master's level, but he was also approved for full funding.
Hrynko shared his story and experiences with the Mercury regarding the war and the following settlement in Estevan, which wouldn't have been possible without the support from the Sunflower Network, Southeast Newcomer Services and the community.
During the interview, he was accompanied by his girlfriend Lizzie Tobias of Bozeman, Mont. The story of their relationship is a part of the unbelievable experience Hrynko's family went through over the past several months, Andrey said.
"This long story stems from my family becoming refugees," Hrynko started his story.
"I was a student at a Polish university, which I got into in 2019. I really wanted to study abroad, to get lots of new experiences, and get to know new people, new countries, and new cultures, so I got into a Polish university. And in 2022, the war broke out. This was my graduation year."
In February, right before the war when the clouds were already growing heavier over Ukraine, Hrynko said he got a bad feeling that his family in Ukraine soon might not be safe anymore. He was spending the winter semester in Prague as an exchange student, when the worrisome news started coming thick and fast.
"I started proposing my family to come to Europe, just in case, for two weeks maybe. They were very hesitant at first, nobody knew. I also visited Ukraine in February just before the war as my mom gave me good advice to come there before February the 28th, before the end of the Olympic Games because that was like a deadline for war," Hrynko recalled.
He returned to Poland, started his last semester and then his life as the lives of millions of Ukrainians made a flip.
"The day the war began, I wasn't sleeping. I came back from a student party, and I was going to go to sleep, but I was like, let's check the news one last time. And I was shocked – explosions in Kyiv, in Odesa, in Mykolaiv. It was really disturbing. Ukraine closed the sky. I immediately called my parents," shared Hrynko.
The family was alright, but they could hear explosions at a distance. In that one night, from a student, Hrynko had to turn into a full adult who'd need to help his family get out of danger.
"I started looking for ways for my mom and my sisters to escape the war. My dad is under 60 years old [and can't leave the country due to war] and my grandma is in Kyiv, she is very old and she needs constant care. So, he was staying there for now. So, I started looking for ways to get [women] out," Hrynko said.
The train stations were overcrowded with people trying to flee the war, but eventually, Hrynko managed to get his mother and sisters on the train to Lviv, Ukraine, and from there to Poland via an evacuation bus. The family got reunited, and Hrynko was able to find them accommodation through his university in Poznan, Poland, where they stayed for about four months. However, settling in Poland wasn't an option. Since their aunt has been living in Estevan for about 10 years, they decided to try moving to the Energy City.
The Sunflower Network helped his sisters and mother come to Canada in June while he had to stay in Poland to complete his thesis on the refugees, finish his bachelor's degree in journalism and apparently meet his girlfriend-to-be.
"It was happening very fast and that very day in Paris [from where his family was flying out to Canada] I went with them to the Charles de Gaulle Airport, and they departed, and I had time till my flight back to Poland … So I went to the Louvre [Museum] and my phone was dying, so there I met Lizzie who is now my girlfriend," Hrynko recalled with a laugh.
"I just graduated from university too, so I was on my university graduation trip with my friends," Tobias shared. "And he just walked up and was like, 'Do you guys have a charger?' And my family's Russian, so I immediately recognized the accent, so I was like, 'Where are you from?' And we started talking."
Hrynko eventually graduated and arrived at Estevan in July. The small world brought the two young hearts way closer together on a different continent after Tobias went back to Montana and Hrynko made it to Saskatchewan.
"When he got to Canada, I just dm'ed him on Instagram, and I was like, 'Welcome to North America.' And he was like, 'You should come visit me.' That was a month and a half ago and now we're dating," said Tobias.
Hrynko was able to get a job at Southern Bolt Supply, where he spent about two months before the news about his university acceptance and funding opened a new path for the young talented man. He said he will be forever grateful to the people of Estevan who helped him and his family through their tough journey on numerous occasions.
"The help Newcomer Services gave to my family is really incredible. We're very grateful for it and to everyone here. You are incredible people," Hrynko said. "I worked here and I got to know a little bit of the Canadian culture. I think that Canadians are really good people, genuine, honest. I'm grateful to my employer and to all my former co-workers. They're really good people, and all this wouldn't be possible without all the help and the encouragement of those people, and all the support."
Debbie Hagel, the Southeast Newcomer Services executive director and a board member with the Sunflower Network, said the two organizations worked together to help the Hrynko family come and settle in Estevan.
"We assisted with securing the housing and getting some furniture in it. I met the sisters and the mom first. And then when Andrey arrived he worked with our Southeast Advocates for Employment program and got employed as his mother did. And it's been just delightful to see the ambition and to see the drive and dedication. What truly makes me a proud Canadian is to watch the opportunities for our newcomers that come to this country. And it's certainly an honour," Hagel said.
Upon his departure, Southeast Newcomer Services also provided Hrynko with several prepaid Visa cards to help pay for the books for the university.
Hrynko and Tobias moved to Saskatoon in mid-September and Hrynko immediately started his master's in political studies at the U of S with the plans to continue researching Ukrainian refugees and potentially pursuing a Ph.D. in the future.
"I'm really happy that I got into the university," Hrynko said. "It seems like a new page in my life. I've got a wonderful girlfriend with me, I have met so many wonderful people. And I'm really happy."
Hrynko's family will stay in Estevan for now, he said. He also encouraged other people to pursue their dreams.
"I encourage all people who are struggling, all the Ukrainians, all the refugees, all the people who are still in Ukraine and are waiting for the war to end and for the people who are seeking their future abroad, do not give up and move forward. It's going to be hard. You're going to struggle, I am struggling. But I'm pushing through and don't give up. It's going to be better if you don't give up," Hrynko said.
"I also want to say thank you to all the people who helped me and my family on our way. I want to say thank you to my girlfriend, Lizzie, to the Newcomer Services, to Southern Bolt, to Sunflower Network and to all the people I have gotten to know in Canada, and to the woman in the airport of Calgary who heard my story and gave me a sandwich. That was very, very nice of her. Thank you to Canada. It's a great country. Great people," Hrynko said.
