Ukrainian woman in Toowoomba tells story of fleeing from Russian invasion in Kharkiv

With just a small number of belongings, an expired passport and virtually no English, Nadiia Shevchenko fled the invasion of Ukraine to safety in Australia. But her fears are not over.

Nadiia Shevchenko with her grandchildren and daughter Yana (left), Oksana and Danya Shevchenko. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Ukraine’s Nadiia Shevchenko is now a world away from the destruction and carnage in her home city of Kharkiv, which has been levelled by Russian bombs and firepower over four months.

“Kharkiv was a very beautiful city, with historical buildings and lots of parks where we spent free time,” the former water utilities worker said from the safety of Toowoomba.

Ms Shevchenko is one of the thousands of Ukrainian refugees and migrants to find their way to Australia since Russia’s invasion began in February.

Kharkiv, a beautiful city near the Russian border, has been the target of a significant shelling campaign by president Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Ms Shevchenko said the devastation was clear after just a few days.

“I took the bus to go to my apartment, and the bus was going through the centre of the city where we used to have beautiful buildings, gardens, historical monuments,” she told The Chronicle with the help of her daughter Oksana.

“It was all destroyed, the city looked like I can’t even explain.”

After holding out for many months living with her son Roma, it became clear to Ms Shevchenko that the situation in Ukraine was no longer safe.

With just a small number of belongings, an expired passport and virtually no English, she fled Kharkiv to Poland in April before securing a tourism visa to live with Oksana and her children in Toowoomba.

Nadiia Shevchenko. Picture: Nev Madsen.

“My daughter gave me some guidance on where to go, but it was very stressful because I’ve never travelled before and without any English it was very hard for me,” she said.

It comes as Ukrainian forces prepare for another assault on Kharkiv by Russian air and ground troops.

Apart from a short lull three weeks ago, the bombing has been relentless.

More than 2000 buildings have been levelled and more than 900 civilians are dead.

While she is grateful to be with her family in Australia, she has grave fears for Roma, who still works from home but has some military training.

Banned from leaving the country, Roma could be called up at any time to serve on the front lines in Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II.

Nadiia Shevchenko’s son Roma is still living in Kharkiv in Ukraine's east, while the city is being slowly destroyed by heavy bombing by the Russian military.

“The Russian army is constantly bombing the people in Ukraine,” Ms Shevchenko said.

“My son is still there and I can hear the bombing and noises in the background, and it makes me really anxious about his safety and what will happen in the next hour or two.”

Ms Shevchenko, who wants to return to Ukraine when the war ends, says the invasion feels like a betrayal by Russia considering the two country’s cultural ties.

“In our city, we never had discrimination between Russians and Ukrainians — most of the population spoke Russian,” she said.

“We couldn’t believe at the start that the Russians were doing this to us, saying they wanted to give us the freedom which we didn’t need,” she said.

Oksana said she was thrilled to have her mother here safe and sound.

Originally published as Ukrainian woman in Toowoomba tells story of fleeing from Russian invasion in Kharkiv