Local Voices
'We Left Everything We Had': 1 Year After War Began, Ukrainian Families In Massachusetts Watch From Afar
"Our lives were ruined," she said. "We left everything we had."
February 24, 2023
LOWELL - Oleksandra Chepenko's journey to Lowell was not quick, or easy. She fled her family's hometown in Ukraine near the Russian border with her mother and 4-year-old son within one week of the Russian invasion.
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"Our lives were ruined," she said. "We left everything we had."
Without a license or car, family members drove them across Ukraine into Bulgaria. They stayed in Bulgaria for several months waiting for Chepenko's elderly father to safely escape Ukraine. Finally, in October 2022, Chepenko was sponsored by a local professor to move to Lowell.
Find out what's happening in Bostonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
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