Brian Hagberg
WARREN, Pa. – For most people in Warren County, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week was something that happened a world away.
But for one local family, at least, it hits much closer to home.
Warren County native Gwen (Slattery) Savych and her Ukrainian-born husband, Bogdan, have family at the heart of the conflict. Bogdan’s parents and nephew were in Western Ukraine as of Friday afternoon, while his sister was still in Kyiv.
“We’re in the year 2022, and it’s really strange to have conversations with friends and family right now about where bomb shelters are and having to share with you know, his sister, like, here’s a list of bomb shelters if you need it,” Gwen said. “And thinking about things like you know, make sure you have enough food and water and cash.”
Bogdan’s sister was hoping to get a train out of Kyiv on Sunday.
“Last night (Thursday), she was staying with some friends and they were all just staying in the basement,” Bogdan said. “And they heard a couple of explosions not that far from the same part of town that she was in. So she hasn’t slept basically for the last two days. Because everybody’s on edge. They don’t know what’s, what’s going to happen.”
Just being on in the western end of the country (most of the fighting had been in Eastern Ukraine as of Friday afternoon) doesn’t mean his parents are away from danger.
“My parents where they were, there were air raid sirens today,” Bogdan said. “So we don’t know what that means. I haven’t checked them. It’s late in the evening there right now, so I don’t know exactly what happened. They found some targets and bombed a couple of places not too far from my hometown. So there’s always the expectation that anything can happen.”
According to an Associated Press story on Monday, the U.N. estimates more than 500,000 people have fled Ukraine since the start of the war on Feb. 24.
Reports thus far indicate the Russians have met stiffer resistance than anticipated, which is something that is both difficult to watch, and a source of pride for Bogdan.
“I think what’s the most what’s very difficult for me is seeing young guys who have family, sending away their kids, sending their wives away then just taking up arms and standing up for what’s right,” Bogdan said. “They have the truth behind them, right. But they might not have the best ammunition. They don’t have air support. They don’t have maybe all the right equipment that they need to be able to take down a Russian tank or Russian plane. But and many of them know that they might not see their family again. And that’s difficult because these are the people who are true patriots. They know what freedom is. And they are willing to, you know, to die for their freedom. Because they know that it’s important. So that’s, that strikes me every time I’ve seen that and it’s very challenging to deal with these emotions.”
The emotions are different for Gwen, a Warren Area High School alum who now lives in Massachusetts, but is still challenging.
“It’s my family by marriage. So it’s a little different, right,” Gwen said. “We’re constantly talking about how can we get his sister out of Kyiv. We’re looking at trains and buses and cars. It feels like we’re late in the game and trying to get her out because transportation systems are shifting roads are shifting, you know what’s available to navigate through and travel on. I never thought in my lifetime, that these would be things that I would be concerned about when you think of war.”
One of the more difficult aspects is the distance between families with little ability to provide tangible assistance.
“There’s a little you can do,” Bogdan said. “Maybe write your congressman say like, you know this is Ukrainian fight but it’s not a fair fight.”
Though he was born in Ukraine, Bogdan has since become an American citizen. Still, having spent so much time in his native country, including six years living in Kyiv, it’s hard to see the devastation.
“I’m trying to limit (news reports) quite a bit because it’s very personal,” Bogdan said. “I lived in Kyiv for six years. So if they say that there is fighting going on in this area I might have been there at some point. I know how beautiful it was. We know that it’s it might be a nice place to just sit down and relax and look at the beautiful beautiful architecture and that is destroyed. In addition to all the people who are affected. So it’s challenging.”
The U.S. and other Western allies have levied harsh sanctions against Russia and have agreed to increase weapons shipments to Ukraine.
“I’m an American,” Bogdan said. “I’m a naturalized American, I took an oath for this country. But I grew up in Ukraine and the two are sometimes not easy. Ukraine is not a member of NATO, so NATO intervention is not coming into play here. And the options for the U.S. may be limited.”
Closer to home, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board announced Sunday that it was pulling all Russian-made products from its shelves in a “show of solidarity and support for the people of Ukraine.” Christie’s Downtown Pub & Grille in Warren announced Saturday that it would no longer serve Russian vodka.
Gwen and Bogdan have been staying with Gwen’s mother who lives in Warren. Gwen said the way the war has gone so far reminds her of the stories her mother told her about growing up during World War II.
“My mother was born in 1936,” Gwen said. “And, you know, they would talk about the depression and things and talk about, you know, having to ration and talk about air raid sirens. She grew up in Emporium, right, a very small community, but they had air raid sirens that would go off and they had special blinds that they would pull down. So you know, technology has changed of course since then. But what I feel like we’re going through reminds me of stories that I’ve heard from family members who lived in times that were troubling.”
It’s the face of this war that Gwen finds most troubling.
“These people that are being affected are people that are just like you and me,” Gwen said. You know these are educated people. These are people that are doctors and nurses and teachers and PhDs and, you know, students and skilled workers and farmers and the whole gamut of what we see here in the U.S. on a daily basis. The people are so similar. You know, of course, the buildings and things look different and the history is different, but there are people just like us that are striving to maintain freedom and democracy.”
“I think that democracy is important,” Bogdan added. “And the country’s sovereignty is important. What (Russian President Vladamir) Putin’s trying to do is take away those things.”
