Ukrainian couple and Maple Ridge politicians work to host refugees

March 2, 2022

A Ukrainian couple from Maple Ridge is teaming up with politicians from the city and from Langley, to try and host people fleeing the country after Russia’s invasion.

Aleks and Natalia Vrublevskij have been in Canada for more than 20 years, but spent recent days calling dozens of relatives still living in their homeland, to make sure they are okay.

“Last weekend I tried to get a hold of as many as I could – even people I hadn’t spoken to in 30 years,” said Aleks.

He said those who are in rural areas have been less affected, but relatives in cities are in a scary situation.

Natalia has a cousin who fled from Kyiv, the capital that has been a focal point of the invasion by Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces. She was among the fortunate ones who was able to flee to Poland. It took an 18-hour train ride, in a train kept in total darkness so it would not be targeted by Russian forces. But now she faces a whole new set of problems – she got out with almost nothing, “a wallet and cell phone and that’s it,” and has nowhere to go.

“Who is going to take care of the refugees?” asked Aleks. “Imagine the stress people are going through – it’s terrible.”

Source: Maple Ridge News