There is tremendous relief for a Ukrainian family reunited in Kansas City. They’ve been separated since war broke out in their country and they’ve fought hard to get here.That’s Liz Shchepetylnykova hugging her parents whose hometown was one of the first to be occupied by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.Liz and her fiancé fled the country in March, but her parents didn’t have the necessary paperwork. All these months she’s been fighting to get them here.”I’m just happy that they’re safe,” Shchepetylnykova said. “You cannot, you cannot imagine how much fear there is among the people in Ukraine that they are going to be forgotten and left alone to die there.”Shchepetylnykova considers Kansas City her second home. She was an exchange student with the Harper family in Kearney more than a decade ago and they’ve embraced her once again, helping her find refuge and working through what seemed like endless red tape to save her parents, too.”They’re so loving and caring that at the time of the greatest needs, you know, and that’s the most terrifying circumstances. They’re the one that wants to step up,” Shchepetylnykova said.While this moment means everything to these families, they cannot forget all those still fighting for their lives.”Unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t have this opportunity and a lot of people are still stuck in the occupied territory so I hope they will get a chance for happy endings themselves,” Shchepetylnykova said.She said it was a combination of bicycles, trains and airplanes over the past four days that finally got her mom and dad to Kansas City.After they rest up, Shchepetylnykova said she wants to get them settled. She said she is confident they will love the Kansas City area, and she said they already appreciate everything everyone’s done to get them here.
There is tremendous relief for a Ukrainian family reunited in Kansas City. They’ve been separated since war broke out in their country and they’ve fought hard to get here.
That’s Liz Shchepetylnykova hugging her parents whose hometown was one of the first to be occupied by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
Liz and her fiancé fled the country in March, but her parents didn’t have the necessary paperwork. All these months she’s been fighting to get them here.
“I’m just happy that they’re safe,” Shchepetylnykova said. “You cannot, you cannot imagine how much fear there is among the people in Ukraine that they are going to be forgotten and left alone to die there.”
Shchepetylnykova considers Kansas City her second home. She was an exchange student with the Harper family in Kearney more than a decade ago and they’ve embraced her once again, helping her find refuge and working through what seemed like endless red tape to save her parents, too.
“They’re so loving and caring that at the time of the greatest needs, you know, and that’s the most terrifying circumstances. They’re the one that wants to step up,” Shchepetylnykova said.
While this moment means everything to these families, they cannot forget all those still fighting for their lives.
“Unfortunately, a lot of people didn’t have this opportunity and a lot of people are still stuck in the occupied territory so I hope they will get a chance for happy endings themselves,” Shchepetylnykova said.
She said it was a combination of bicycles, trains and airplanes over the past four days that finally got her mom and dad to Kansas City.
After they rest up, Shchepetylnykova said she wants to get them settled. She said she is confident they will love the Kansas City area, and she said they already appreciate everything everyone’s done to get them here.
