Ireland’s Ukrainian community laments tensions back home

Members of the Ukrainian community in Ireland have spoken of their hurt and sadness at the events unfolding in their home country.

Alina Radko, a senior designer living in Dublin, said Ukrainians are peaceful people and in no way aggressive. “It was a terrible experience for me watching the news as it happened online, I even saw shootings live,” she said.

Radko said her parents, who live in the city of Sumy near the Russian border, don’t understand the danger of the situation. “They can’t see the overall picture of these political games,” she said. “My sister and I are extremely worried and just want them to be safe.”

Tanya Maryshko, who has lived in Dublin for 13 years, explained that before last November most Ukrainians were under the impression that ousted Ukrainian president Victor Yanukovich was moving closer to Europe. "Then suddenly he changed his mind and turned to Russia, it felt like the betrayal of his people," she said.

When the protests began Ms Maryshko felt quite distant from the people on the Maidan [Independence Square]\. The news that her husband's childhood friend had been killed in the violence brought the reality of the situation straight home. "When somebody you know is killed, it suddenly becomes very real."

Death of 77 people

Nataliya Kononenko from Cork travelled to the Maidan over Christmas while visiting her husband in Ukraine. Her son later visited the square after the death of at least 77 people on February 20th. "It was impossible to buy flowers, they were all laid out on the Maidan that weekend," she said. "Even people who did not support the protests gathered to pay their respects. Men were openly crying, they could not hide their tears."

Ms Kononenko is worried the West will now forget about those who were injured during the protests. "People continue to die in hospitals from gunshot wounds and internal injuries after they were beaten by rubber and plastic sticks," she said. "I just pray that [Russian president Vladimir] Putin withdraws his troops from Crimea and that this situation ends diplomatically."

'Language not the reason'

Mr Putin has said one of the reasons he has deployed military into the Crimea region is to protect those who speak Russian, but Ms Kononenko argues that Russian and Ukrainian speakers already live in harmony.

“When I visited the Maidan half the people there were speaking Russian,” she said. “Most Ukrainians speak both Ukrainian and Russian fluently. Language is definitely not the reason to start a world war.”

A native of Odessa in the south of the country who refused to give his name to protect the safety of his family, disagrees with Ms Kononenko. “Putin definitely made the right decision by placing the military in Crimea,” he said. “It will protect them from a civil war.”

This native Russian speaker said he often felt alienated at home. “This is about the culture and history of Russian speakers in Ukraine,” he said. “They make Russia out to be the enemy and so my family are now afraid. They worry about what will happen if they express their opinions freely.”