From conflict to courage: One brave pregnant Ukrainian woman’s journey to Australia

Daryna Povorozniuk just spent a precious few days with young son and husband in Australia before her beloved heads back to fight for his country against Putin’s illegal invasion.

A world away from conflict, happy newlyweds pose for a photo on their wedding day, each of them hold the hand of their little boy.

Little Eli, not long since his first birthday, isn’t old enough to understand why he met his dad for the first time two weeks ago, but here he stands a stoic expression on his face, knowing that he’s headed back to war.

We can’t name Daryna Povorozniuk’s husband, they fear he’ll become a target of the Russians who invaded their beloved Ukraine on February 26, 2022, a country he’s currently fighting in, sending his wife a simple message ‘OK’ everyday to let her know he’s alive.

Ukrainian refugee Daryna Povorozniuk on her wedding day with her husband and 1-year-old son Eli. Picture: Supplied

But for a few days, they were together again.

“It was an emotional time for all of us,” Mrs Povorozniuk said.

“Just to see my husband again and for him to finally be with Eli was so special. I am hoping and praying one day we can all be back together and start our lives in Australia as a family.”

Ukrainian Refugee Daryna Povorozniuk with her son Eli, 1. Picture: Annette Dew

Reflecting on her time in Brisbane, Mrs Povorozniuk said she is grateful for the care she has received while on a refugee visa and hopes to have her Ukrainian certification in pharmacy recognised here so she can continue work.

“Australia is such a peaceful place and I was surprised how friendly people are around me. Everyone wants to help me.

“Now I look at my baby and he is so happy, he is so healthy and that is the most important thing.”

Daryna Povorozniuk with her husband in Ukraine. Photo: Supplied.

That happiness she see’s in her son wasn’t always guaranteed, six months pregnant the bombing started.

“When the full scale invasion started I was six months pregnant. I woke up and I noticed there was a bombing wave because we lived in Kyiv on the side where Russia invaded.

“Every time I try to remember this I feel cold in my body because it is so sad. I told my mother to take me to the hospital. My husband was awake as well, he had a call from his chief soldier he had to go, that was the last time I saw him.

“The hospital, they prioritised the soldiers who were injured. And my doctor said to me, ‘you have to understand that in case we have some soldiers who are bleeding we will have to ask you to go home’.”

Damage at the Retroville shopping mall, a day after it was shelled by Russian forces in a residential district in the northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. Picture: AFP

She explained how her weeks stay in hospital while she was six months pregnant was interrupted by up to 13 bombing waves every night and how the airport next door was their final hope.

“There was an airport nearby, and that was our number one goal, I just had to get there and get out.”

The affect of the war hasn’t left her.

“I don’t have any tears left to cry, I don't cry so often now. I don't know how to explain it, it’s like this dry pain,” she said.

“I stay in touch with my psychologist and I try to normalise my feelings because I understand hate is a destructive feeling. I think the Russians are not human; I have to.

“Sometimes people say ‘oh it is Putin’s war,’ but it isn’t Putin personally bombing Ukraine,” she said.

“This war is not only about bombing, this war is also about information and propaganda, so when I hear propaganda about Ukrainian conflict inside, then I believe it is false because I know what happened.”