As the war in Ukraine continues, one Tucson family went above and beyond to help a family caught in the middle of it all.
The Shevchenko family owned a travel business in Mariupol and had a great life in Ukraine, but it all changed overnight.
"We lost everything," Andre Shevchenko said. "We lost our world. We lost our jobs. We lost our houses, all of our belongings and all of our things."
The family of four had their lives turned upside down when the bombings began.
"Our city was left without any basic needs and utilities," Shevchenko said. "We had to be without electricity, then water was cut off and then no gas."
He added that there was no food in grocery stores.
As bombing continued, the city was destroyed. The family and other residents had to live underground for weeks to stay safe. However, not everyone was able to avoid the dangers of living in a war zone.
"A lot of bodies were all over the place; just outside in the streets," Shevchenko said. "We didn't even have an opportunity to bury them properly."
At one point the air bombings slowed down and they used that as an opportunity to escape.
"We decided to move and we understood that we had to go despite the fact that there were still shootings and gunshots above our heads," Shevchenko said. "We were moving because our children deserve a better place and a safer place for living."
They made the long journey out of Ukraine and eventually made it to Latvia. Once they were there they connected with the Aimee Dobbins and her family here in Tucson over Facebook.
The family sponsored them and is now having them live in their house.
"They gave us a safe place," Shevchenko said. "They gave us a house and a safe place and most importantly a feeling of family belonging."
So far they have been in Tucson for six weeks and are slowly getting adjusted to life here.
"Language and finding jobs so those are our priorities," Tatianna Shevchenko said. "We have big plans because we start our life from scratch."
While they are starting from zero, they say they are glad to have a caring family and home.
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Greg Bradbury is a reporter for KGUN 9. Greg is a graduate of Syracuse University where he studied Broadcast Journalism and Spanish. Greg joined KGUN 9 in February 2021 as a Multimedia Journalist after working at the ABC National Desk as a Digital News Associate. Share your story ideas and important issues with Greg by emailing greg.bradbury@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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