‘We are home. Finally:’ Ukrainian family arrives in Saskatoon

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes because of the Russian attack on their country.

Now, some of them are settling down in Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday, Gormley spoke with a Ukrainian woman who has made it to our province.

For Oksana Beglarashvili, being forced from her home, surrounded by death and destruction, hasn’t been easy.

“We couldn’t believe (the war) actually started. We thought it was nonsense. How (could) it be, in the 21st century? We live in Europe. It just couldn’t be possible,” she said.

“Oh my god, it’s so hard to explain,” she continued with a sigh. “It’s a really atrocious experience to leave your home.”

When asked whether she’d seen anything shocking, Beglarashvili had trouble answering.

“Of course, but … You know, I would like to tell about it … Actually, every time I start crying,” she said with a sob.

“It’s truly awful,” she managed to choke out.

She, her husband and their son are now in a much safer place.

They left Ukraine with no idea where they might wind up.

“We went from shelter to shelter — Poland, Germany, then quite a long distance to Canada,” she recalled.

They touched down at the Saskatoon airport on April 17, and it was a beautiful feeling.

“When we (got) here, we thought, ‘Wow. We are home. Finally,’ ” she said.

Saskatoon is now starting to sink in for her. It’s certainly different from her home city of Kyiv, but she’s happy to be here.

“We hope to settle and to find jobs for everybody and to register our son in school. We would love to live here. It’s actually a very, very nice place,” she said.

It certainly helps that there are so many people with Ukrainian ties living in the province. That’s one of the reasons the provincial government has said it will take in as many people from Ukraine as it can.

“I visited the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and everybody there speaks Ukrainian,” Beglarashvili said. “It was such a pleasure to speak my mother language again. It was really, really nice.”

While Kyiv had over two million more people than Saskatoon and the geography’s quite different, that’s not what’s important to her.

“People are the treasure of this land,” she said.

Provincial government helping out

The Saskatchewan government announced Wednesday it has created a pathway to give Ukrainians coming to live in Saskatchewan quick access to health-care coverage services and supports.

The government has amended The Medical Care Insurance Beneficiary and Administration Regulations to provide health coverage for people who fled Ukraine.

“This amendment is effective back to Jan. 1, 2022 and allows families arriving under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program to receive a Saskatchewan Health card for the duration of their immigration,” the government said in a release.

“The backdating is to ensure those who may have already left Ukraine and arrived here before the Russian invasion of Feb. 24, 2022, are eligible for health benefits.”

eHealth Saskatchewan has a dedicated intake program for Ukrainians to help them get their health cards.