As Russian forces continued to pound Kyiv and other cities in Ukraine, forcing thousands of citizens to flee their homes, a Guyanese man remains hopeful for the safety of his Ukrainian wife and seven-year-old daughter who remain in their homeland while he is thousands of miles away.
Shawn Parasram, who is originally from Enmore, East Coast Demerara, told Sunday Stabroek that he is currently working on a cruise ship in the Bahamas while his wife, Yuliya, daughter Emilia, and other relatives are in Odessa, Ukraine.
Parasram, who is employed with the Royal Caribbean International, moved to Ukraine in 2014 after he met his wife and they got married.
He explained that the cruise company is currently working with government agencies to at least get all Ukrainians and Russians on board close to their homeland.
Parasram has been away from his family for four months. “Currently, there is limited stuff as to what I can do… Fingers crossed, prayers and we move forward,” he told Sunday Stabroek during a telephone interview yesterday.
With Russian forces unleashing the biggest attack in Europe since World War Two last Thurs-day, thousands of people in Ukraine have since fled their homes, clogging major highways and railway lines.
Parasram explained that for now his family is safe. “Where I am living, which is in the center of Odessa… it’s a residential area… and it’s a lot of foreigners living there. So its secure, the area is secure as of this point,” he said.
Though there have been connection issues, Parasram said he has been able to speak to his wife and daughter on a daily basis. “She said the electricity was out and that caused [an] internet outage and whatever might be the case but I was a bit concerned because no calls, nothing but I did finally get into contact with her,” he explained.
Parasram said he last spoke to his wife yesterday afternoon and she related to him that there will be a “complete shutdown”. “There will be no traffic on the streets, nobody cannot leave. It’s going to be total shutdown,” Parasram said.
Even if movement were not restricted, Parasram said his daughter would have been unable to leave the country without his permission. “My wife cannot take my daughter out of the country or they would not let her out without my approval. So I have to be there,” he noted.
Never expected this
Parasram said his home is situated about ten minutes away from the Odessa airport. During their conversation yesterday, he said his wife recalled hearing an explosion at the airport. “She said around 3 am Ukraine time that was today (Saturday) there was a loud explosion like vibration at the airport…There was one aircraft, Russian aircraft, that was gunned down. They take down that aircraft,” he explained.
Parasram had been following the news of the Russian buildup of troops on the border closely over the past few weeks. “I was following the news and everything… the latest I heard before the war started was that Putin was basically having his troops training and he is withdrawing his troops….And then all of a sudden there was an invasion…..There is only so much I could have do from here,” he explained.
He said he tries to comfort his daughter every time he communicates with her. “I try to manoeuvre her from that mindset. I don’t want her thinking of a war. I just explain to her that this is just a thing. It is going to go by, it is going to finish and you don’t have to worry about this. I am going to be there as soon as I have a flight…Just comforting words,” Parasram said.
If he were in Ukraine presently, Parasram said, getting his family out of the country would have been priority for him. “If I was in this situation currently at home in Ukraine I would have chosen the first flight and exit Ukraine. That would have been my decision,” he related. “I just want to hold my daughter. Hold her and my wife and bring them out to safety. I am thinking directly of them but I wish I can do anything for everyone there but it is limited as to what I can do…. I just want to get them out and to safety,” Parasram added.
He said the present situation is making him think of making changes, such as finding a new job that would allow him to be closer to his family at any given time. “In terms of not being away from them, I would need to find another job. All these things are coming to my mind. You never know what can happen. I never expected this,” he said.
Parasram described Ukraine as an “amazing” place. “I had no issues for the past seven to eight years living in Ukraine,” he said.
