Ukrainian family fleeing Russia's war receives warm welcome in Ottawa

Anna wiped away tears as she walked toward the house she and her family will call home, for now.

"I want to say thank [you], everyone," said the 18-year-old Ukrainian, who arrived in Ottawa from Romania on Sunday. "Being safe is the most important [thing] for us now." 

CBC has agreed to withhold the family's surname for their protection.

Anna arrived with her seven-year-old sister Tatiia, her mother Olena and her father Levan, who is originally from the former Soviet republic of Georgia and is therefore exempt from military conscription in Ukraine. 

I can't believe it. There are a lot of people with very kind hearts.- Anna

The teen is the only member of her family who speaks English. 

On Sunday evening, dozens of neighbours stood in the rain to welcome the family to their temporary home in the Nepean neighbourhood. Some held welcome signs and others draped Ukrainian flags over their shoulders in a show of support. 

"I can't believe it," said Anna. "There are a lot of people with very kind hearts."

Family fled as invasion intensified

The family is from Ukraine's coastal city of Odesa, where they own a bakery. 

When the war broke out in late February, Anna said her family quickly began supporting troops by feeding them. 

"We cooked meals for 60 people every day," said Anna. "We cooked soups, mashed potatoes…. Because they need to eat something." 

The family was forced to flee March 4 as the invasion intensified, she said. They crossed the border into Romania, leaving nearly everything behind, carrying only one piece of luggage for the family of four.

"It was terrible," Anna recalled. "I hate [the] people that started this war in my country."

The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported last week that a month of fighting in Ukraine had resulted in 1,179 dead and 1,860 wounded civilians, although there are countless more unaccounted for. 

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said 10 million people have been displaced within or outside the country, some with serious injuries.

Offering a safe haven

Anna and her family are now staying with Tammy Jeanveaux, who decided to open up her four-bedroom Nepean home after the invasion began, and who rallied the community to donate everything the family needs to start life in Canada.

"I felt like I had so much to give," Jeanveaux said. 

She also said stepping up to help is something her late ex partner — a former U.S. military pilot — would have done.

"I thought the best way to honour his memory was to do something," said Jeanveaux. "Either he would have opened his doors to them or he would have been over there fighting." 

The Nepean woman was able to connect with the family through a Facebook group that matches Ukrainians fleeing the war with Canadians willing to take them in.

As soon as she read about the family, she knew it would be a match.

Jeanveaux picked them up at the Montreal airport Sunday afternoon and drove them to Ottawa. 

Parents plan to work at local bakery

This family isn't the first Ukrainian family fleeing Russia's war to make their way to Ottawa.

Earlier this month, an elderly couple from the city of Kharkiv arrived in the capital to reconnect with their daughter, who is living in Stittsville. 

Anna said her mother and father received work visas Sunday, and that they're planning to get a job at a local bakery.

Her family decided to settle in Canada because of its education system, she said.

The 18-year-old hopes to attend the University of Ottawa this fall.