Albina and Vladislav lived in Odessa, Ukraine, enjoying a decent life and retirement years. The thought of having to leave their whole life behind with nothing but 1 small suitcase never crossed their mind.

After Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, they made a life-changing decision to save their lives and by March they chose to flee. However, at that time, all airports were already destroyed, and the Ukrainian airspace was closed. They had no other choice but to flee on foot to the nearest border crossing. After a few days of planning, their son-in-law purchased plane tickets to travel from Toronto to Palanka in Moldova where they would meet and bring them back to Canada.

The trip required him to fly from Toronto to Frankfurt, then catch a connecting flight to Vienna, and from there fly over to Iasi in Romania. After getting there, he rented a car and travelled hundreds of miles, crossed the border with Moldova and reached Palanka, a bordering city with Ukraine. This entire one-way trip took 3 days, and thousands of dollars, with the return trip still in the future.

In the meantime, Albina and Vladislav were in a car of a generous man who agreed to drive them across Ukraine, risking his own life, and sheltering from constant Russian shelling. After 6 hours of driving, they reached a stop at a huge car lineup at the border, which spanned tens of kilometres. To add to their unfortunate fate, the weather was freezing cold outside, and the car ran out of gas while they were in traffic. They sat in freezing cold, holding on to their suitcase that held everything they could take with them. 70 years of their life stuffed in a suitcase in a great rush. Meanwhile, the driver of the car found a gas station and walked on foot to fill a little canister.

9 hours into their dangerous journey, Albina and Vladislav crossed the Ukrainian-Moldovan border and ended up in a refugee camp in Palanka, Moldova. Their son-in-law, after arriving in Palanka, had to search the entire refugee camp to find them at last but their journey was far from over. The next 4 days were spent driving back to Romania, catching 2 flights, and accepting their new life as refugees.

They are now living with their daughter, son-in-law, and their grandson in Toronto, and adapting to their new reality. The suitcase they packed could only hold so much, and it surely cannot hold enough things to get through every day.

Help our family by donating to this GoFundMe and supporting Albina and Vladislav, who at 72 years of age with numerous handicaps are no longer enjoying a healthy retirement but are forced to live with a completely uncertain future.

Thank you and God Bless each of you.