Ukrainian at heart, an Aussie by choice

Two weeks after her hometown was hit by Russian shells, Iryna Riaboshapka vowed she would become an Australian citizen.

‘My life and family is here, my home is Australia’: Iryna Riaboshapka with daughter Samira and husband Sameh Sabry at home in Olympic Park, Sydney, on Tuesday. Picture: Nikki Short

Two weeks after her hometown of Kramatorsk was hit by Russian shells, Iryna Riaboshapka vowed to become an Australian citizen.

A year before, her Egyptian-born husband, Sameh Sabry, became a citizen at an Australia Day ceremony in Parramatta in Sydney’s west but Ms Riaboshapka still felt conflicted about the move: “My husband kept asking me to join him, but I kept hesitating. I knew I could only have one nationality and being Ukrainian was important to me.”

When war broke out close to her hometown in the Donetsk region, Ms Riaboshapka realised her priorities had changed: on Thursday, her husband and two-year-old daughter, Samira, will watch on as she joins 79 others in becoming Australian citizens at a ceremony at Parramatta Park.

“When the war started, I thought I want to be an Australian citizen with my husband and daughter. It seemed like the right thing to do and it reminded me of this. I will be Ukrainian in my heart, but I love Australia and it‘s my home now.”

Ms Riaboshapka, 36, left her native Ukraine when she was 21 before meeting and marrying her husband in Egypt. The couple, who both work in hospitality and IT, moved to Sydney in 2015.

“My parents, who are in their 60s, still live in Ukraine are not going anywhere … I have begged them many times to leave but they say ‘It’s God’s will now’. They are still there with cousins and aunts and a lot of family.”

Ms Riaboshapka said her sister fled Ukraine shortly after witnessing Russian rockets hit a nearby area, prompting her to take her two young daughters to France, where they live with cousins. “My sister did not want her children to live in an area where they saw war every day … Life is not easy for them there, either, but at least you know you can wake up safe in the morning.”

She said she felt boosted by Australia’s support of her native country, and the offer of thousands of temporary visas for Ukrainians since the war began in late February 2022. “Ever since I came here, I found Australian people welcoming and very kind and that has even grown since what has happened in Ukraine,” she said. “When I become an Australian citizen on Thursday, I will be very excited. My life and family is here, my home is Australia … It will be a special day.

“I haven’t told my parents yet. It will be a surprise and I know they will be very happy for me and my family.”