Members of South Australia’s Ukrainian community call for more generosity

One of the few Ukrainians to escape to Australia has revealed how she got in as the government faces growing calls to open up for the besieged nation’s refugees.

South Australia’s Ukrainian community and political leaders are calling for displaced Ukrainians to be welcomed en masse to Australia to save them from Russia’s invasion.

Association of Ukrainians in SA President Frank Fursenko pleaded for more help, urging the federal government to do more.

“We’d like the Australian government to be as generous as possible,” Mr Fursenko said.

He said the government would need to provide additional support after granting refugees entry into Australia by providing housing and access to other services.

“The crucial thing is to support the community in absorbing this intake,” he said.

South Australian Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas threw his support behind an increased effort to assist war-affected Ukrainians.

“I don’t get why as a nation we are not actively opening our hearts to these people and dramatically increasing the humanitarian intake program,” he said.

“I want South Australia to punch above its weight as we have previously.”

Mr Malinauskas’ grandparents fled the Soviet Bloc after World War II and believed they had won “lotto” in ­Adelaide.

Tetiana Andriiets fled her home country early March to be re-united with her fiance Marko Kvasniuk. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

One of the first Ukrainians to arrive in South Australia saw first-hand the desperation of people fleeing Ukraine and said a big government effort was needed.

Tetiana Andriiets, 24, was reunited with her fiance Marko Kvasniuk, 26, after almost two years apart on March 5 when she arrived at Adelaide airport.

Miss Andriiets was lucky enough to be granted a provisional marriage visa in December but she is one of very few Ukrainians that have been able to make their way to Australia.

Miss Andriiets was faced with the difficult decision to leave her country for the safety of Australia, or stay and face the same fate as many of her compatriots.

In the end she fled war-torn Ukraine after packing up her apartment in Lviv with little time to say goodbye to loved ones.

“I found it very difficult to leave friends and family behind – a big part of me didn’t want to leave,” Miss Andriiets said.

“I feel a lot of worry for my family and friends … that are now in a completely different reality to me.”

Miss Andriiets, who is a registered pharmacist, packed what she could into a car and left the country she had called home for her entire life just days before shelling started.

Some of Miss Andriiets’ family were located in the hardest-hit parts of Ukraine, including an aunt in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol, where 400 hospital patients and staff were believed to be held hostage on Wednesday, but few intended to leave their homes.

Miss Andriiets had planned to wait until June to move to Australia but when war hit her fiance told her “screw your work, screw everything, you’ve got to get out”.

Despite the devastation to her country, Miss Andriiets said Ukrainians were stronger than ever.

“Russia has managed to do what a lot of people in Ukraine have failed to do and unite the country,” she said.