Ukrainian refugee family ready to start new life in Manitoba
A Ukrainian refugee is excited to begin a new life in Manitoba after escaping the war in Ukraine with her family and reuniting with her sister in Winnipeg Sunday.
Iryna Redkina and her husband, two daughters, 17-month-old grandson, and two dogs were greeted at the Winnipeg airport by her sister Svitlana Maksymovych and husband Jan Chalmers, who sponsored the family’s escape from the city of Kherson in south Ukraine.
Maksymovych says it was a long and difficult journey, but worth it.
“We couldn’t sleep at night when [the fighting] started,” she told CTV News Winnipeg. “We started to support them right away.”
That support meant sending money overseas to help get the family out of the Russia/Ukraine warzone.
It took three attempts before they were able to escape.
The first time they were turned back because the fighting was too dangerous, while the second attempt saw them fall victim to an online scam.
Finally, on her daughter’s birthday of April 14, Redkina’s family escaped from Ukraine to Muldova, where they stayed in a hotel for 10 days. From there, they went to a small apartment in Romania where they’ve been waiting for the past few months for their Canadian visas to go through.
Redkina’s husband was not able to leave with his family, but was able to find another way out.
An emotional Maksymovych, translating for her sister, said they are relieved to finally be safe in Canada.
“I’m sure when we bring them home to our [Somerset, Man.) farm, and they hear peace and quiet, it will be like a fairy tale to them.”
Maksymovych says they will support the family while they learn English, find work, and a home of their own in Manitoba
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.