Bella and twin daughters Arina and Sofiia, now age 12, fled their home in Odesa, Ukraine after Russia launched its war on the whole country beginning in February 2022. They had active and productive lives prior to the war. Bella is an engineer and worked in a factory that repaired military vehicles. Arina and Sofiia attended school, sang in a choir, played instruments, swam, and were involved in a variety of sports.

Unfortunately, the war that began in 2022 was not the family’s first experience with the personal impacts of war. Bella’s husband and the girls’ father served in the Ukrainian army already beginning in 2016 and was deployed to defend against Russia’s attacks on the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The physical and mental toll of war was so heavy that he tragically passed away from a heart attack in 2020, leaving Bella as a widow and single parent.

When Russia began its war on the rest of Ukraine in 2022, Bella decided that staying in the country and living amidst an active war was not an option. As the sole surviving parent of her daughters, Bella’s normal daily life—sending her daughters off to school while she separately went to work—became a source of tremendous stress, and the “what if” scenarios became unbearable.

Since 2022, Bella, Arina, and Sofiia have been staying in a small town in Germany. Remaining there long-term is not a viable option, however: the small monthly stipend they receive is barely enough to subsist on in a small town, and the small town has few or no job opportunities for non-German speakers. And while a bigger city may have more opportunities, they have no way of taking steps toward a bigger city life with the little they receive. Although Bella has been working part time for the German Red Cross on Ukrainian refugee resettlement and finds the work meaningful, it does not entail much income.

The family is very eager to start a new life together in Minnesota. Bella speaks strong English and plans to look for work soon after arriving, which she will be legally able to do right away. Arina and Sofiia will start 7th grade in the fall and are excited to be able to resume some of their favorite music and sports activities that they enjoyed before the war.

Our small group of families is sponsoring Bella, Arina, and Sofiia through the USCIS Uniting for Ukraine program. We are committed to helping them get established as new Minnesotans. All financial support we are able to raise will help them secure things like transportation, housing (after their initial stay with a very generous host family!), food, school supplies, and other basic needs while Bella looks for a job to support the family going forward.