They keep believing in victory

Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine has been going on for almost two and a half years. Two and a half years in which Ukrainians fear for their country, their homeland and their independence, thousands of people have already been killed and no one knows when peace will be possible again. 24 February 2022 changed everything for millions of people. Two years ago, no one would have thought that Russia's attempted conquest of Ukraine would last so long.

For Kateryna Saiko, her life abroad has now become "normal". She goes to work, studies with her daughter and enjoys not living in fear every day. Her mother and husband are still in Ukraine, just a few kilometres away from the fighting on the front in the south-east of the country. "I often think about what it would be like if my husband was here with me, but we have our house in Zaporizhia and he is needed at the hospital where he works, " says Kateryna.

A future with prospects

Two years ago in spring, François, an 85-year-old from Echternach, brought her and her daughter to Luxembourg by car. The then 41-year-old, who was actually a qualified economist and head of the planning and economics department at a private hospital in Zaporizhia, became a refugee from one day to the next. Today, two and a half years later, Kateryna's situation has calmed down. But she still can't go home. "Our future is our daughter. She has opportunities in Luxembourg, she can study and find out what she wants to do in life. That's what we want to focus on."

The 18-year-old is currently attending an international school, learning French, German and Luxembourgish and completing her studies via distance learning at the university in Kyiv. Next year, the maths and physics enthusiast wants to continue her studies at Uni.lu. "It's a lot for her, but we motivate each other, " says Kateryna. At the time of the interview, the Ukrainian had not seen her daughter for over two weeks as she was visiting her father in her home country. "This month has been very hard for all of us, but especially for her, because there's hardly any electricity at home, it's been 45 degrees for days on end and the generator in our house is broken, so a lot of things are difficult or even impossible in everyday life, " explains Kateryna.