'We fight against terror': Ottawa woman stays in Ukraine to defend homeland

A volunteer of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces walks on the debris of a car wash destroyed by a Russian bombing in Baryshivka, east of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

PRINCE ALBERT -

An Ottawa woman from Ukraine is choosing to stay in Ukraine despite risks to her safety.

Virginia, 39, worked as an assistant for Prince Albert MP Randy Hoback. CTV News is not publishing her last name.

She returned to Ukraine on Feb. 19, five days before the attack on Kyiv, to bury her mother who died from COVID-19.

“Ever since I heard the first explosions outside my bedroom window in Kyiv, myself and other people in Kyiv are just living a terrible, terrible nightmare,” said Virginia.

“Some of us are not even alive anymore.”

She says she has friends who’ve lost brothers and relatives in the conflict, while others have had civilian members of their family die.

She was forced to flee from Kyiv when the shelling began with only a small bag and says she’s been wearing clothes from friends.

Unable to return to Kyiv, she depends on others for shelter and has spent nights in bomb shelters. During the day, she uses her communication skills to help the war effort.

She says many women have stayed in the country to support the Ukrainian armed forces and the territorial defence forces.

“We fight against terror and death that’s being brought on us from Russia, that’s all,” she said and calls the attacks on Ukrainian civilians “barbaric atrocities."

“This war has already cost hundreds of red lines and the atrocities are mounting with the bombing of civilian facilities like a maternity hospital, kindergartens, schools.”

She’s also disappointed with the response from other nations and the denial of assistance to combat airstrikes.

“If Ukraine falls, then the world is going to be in greater jeopardy than it was before. That’s why the entire democratic global community has to support our maximum fight here.”

She has no plans to leave Ukraine. Her husband, who was also born in Ukraine, remains employed in Canada. The couple decided he will stay in Canada in order to work and support their family.

“It was my choice to be in my home country. I just couldn’t sit back in Canada and watch this horror on the TV screen.”

She says her life and other Ukrainian civilians’ lives are in danger and if necessary she will take up arms to fight for the sovereignty of her country.