Trapped between death and life

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Wednesday, June 26. Thank you for tuning in to WORLD Radio to start your day.

Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Next The world and everything in it: start a new life in a new country.

Ukraine has been at war with neighboring Russia for two years. High casualties have caused increasing fear among many people in the country.

EICHER: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, and recruiting officers are using aggressive tactics to recruit more soldiers who are after them. They go door to door and raid stores, often dragging away the unwilling.

WJI graduate Jessica Eturralde spoke with a young Ukrainian who fled and is now trying to build a life in America.

TARASIUK: (speaks Ukrainian)

KOROLCHUCK: Basically darkness… darkness. You just hear noises outside, but you don’t know what’s going on. You’re just huddled in the dark.

JESSICA ETURRALDE: Just over a year ago, on a sunny February morning, 25-year-old Davyd Tarasiuk paid to be smuggled out of Ukraine.

Demoralized by the sight of Russia’s destruction of his homeland and fearing being drafted to the front, Tarasiuk made a decision he never thought possible: he decided to leave Ukraine forever.

When the time came, he met secretly and hid among boxes and blankets on the back of a tarpaulin-covered truck as it carefully crossed the Hungarian border.

Tarasiuk is one of more than 20,000 able-bodied men who have fled Ukraine illegally since the Russian invasion in 2022. To maximize troop strength, Ukrainian men ages 18 to 60 are banned from leaving the country.

After crossing the border, Tarasiuk traveled through four countries before settling in the United States as part of the Uniting for Ukraine program. Through a family connection, he ended up in Western North Carolina, where he found refuge with Ukrainian-American Igor Korolchuck.

Now, more than 5,000 miles east and far from danger, Tarasiuk – who speaks only Ukrainian – explains his decision while Korolchuck translates.

KOROLCHUCK: Davyd, say hello. I’m Davyd. (Laughter)

There are no bombs here. No sirens. No smoke.

As Tarasiuk describes the details that led to his decision to flee, Korolchuck puts his left arm around the back of Tarasiuk’s chair.

KOROLCHUCK: We have a choice between knowing you’re going to have to go to war or taking a leap of faith and trying to see if you can find a better way. I just don’t want to die, you know.

When war broke out in February 2022, many Ukrainians volunteered to push back Putin’s army at the front. But after two years of grueling fighting, those troops are either still fighting, dead or severely maimed.

AUDIO: (Tarasiuk speaks in Ukrainian)

KOROLCHUCK: When you see people starting to die, and there are no results. It’s getting worse and worse, and a lot of these kids, you know, after the first few months of the war, and you just realize you’re dying for nothing?

Tarasiuk continues his new life in America, but in his hometown of Revine, he has left behind his expectations of a future in Ukraine. He has left behind his father and mother. He has left behind 25 years of relationships. He has left his church and his soccer team. When he decided to climb into the back of the truck, he knew he was risking his life to save it.

KOROLCHUCK: You’re excited to go to America, but at the same time you know that because you’re taking this step, you’ll never be able to return.

A survey of adults in Ukraine conducted last April found that just over half of respondents said “nobody wants to die” and that they understand the reasons for conscientious objectors. However, in the same survey, just under half of all respondents said they are ashamed of the men who evade mobilization.

KOROLCHUCK: Mentally, it’s tough. Because a lot of people, probably half the people there, consider them traitors, you know.

Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Zelensky signed new mobilization laws to direct Ukrainian soldiers to return and fight. While experts expect the long-awaited $61 billion in U.S. military aid to bolster Ukraine’s defenses, it will only help so much if there are not enough trained soldiers to operate those defenses.

Even if Ukraine’s allies do not agree on the extent of their commitment, they all agree that Ukraine must not lose.

But politicians have differing views on how to support the disadvantaged country, and in the United States, Americans have grown tired of the issue.

Korolchuck encourages people to seek God’s providence.

KOROLCHUCK: Nobody expected Ukraine to prevail against Russia. So I think that ultimately victory is always going to be God’s will. If it is God’s will, there will be victory. And I know that a lot of people trust that, whether they prophesied it or proclaimed it.

AUDIO: (Tarasiuk speaks in Ukrainian)

Tarasiuk says his life is now centered solely in America. He hopes his chances of staying will not change. Tarasiuk has applied for parole again, which would allow him to spend another two years in the United States.

KOROLCHUCK: He says the language barrier and the cultural differences. That’s one of the things he’s still dealing with.

And he’s struggling to find his purpose. He sees how people live in the United States. They work, they spend money, they earn more – they’re constantly trying to earn, earn.

KOROLCHUCK: He said one of my concerns was to find the purpose of my existence and to live something greater than just minding my own business.

He adds that he finds it difficult to imagine his mission because he feels like he isn’t even on the road. He thinks a lot about school and starting a family, but he doesn’t know if or how either will happen.

Korolchuck pats him firmly on the shoulder.

KOROLCHUCK: We’ll get him a wife. (Laughter)

I report for WORLD, I’m Jessica Eturralde.

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