Natalia and Danylo Kosenko have been in Ibiza for just over a week, and although they love the island and have been surprised by “how green it is”, they are looking forward to returning to their country. They are from Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, and fled when the war broke out. They first settled in Moldavia (Romania) until they reached Barcelona; from there they moved to Ibiza, where they have friends. More than 3,300 kilometers to find the peace they lost on February 24.
A new life on Ibiza
Natalia’s husband and Danylo’s father, as well as her father and her friends, have stayed there. The situation is still far from returning to normal. In fact, on Sunday Russian troops attacked a refinery in Odessa with missiles, so both are trying to start their lives on Ibiza. The 16-year-old is continuing his studies online, as the Ukrainian government has made it easier for students to take distance learning courses because the schools are closed; Natalia is trying to find a job.
She is a lawyer, and although her English is basic, she is willing to work at anything. She has also started to speak some words in Spanish. It’s all about keeping her mind busy and feeling useful. “Anything will do,” she says. Being 24 hours a day with the uncertainty of not knowing what will become of her family is making it hard for her. “I dream of this being over. I have depressing moments every day because, inevitably, you think about what has happened and what is happening,” she laments. “You think that we had our life there and a lot of people we love have stayed there,” she adds. But the situation is even more complicated because of her son. “It hurts me more for him, he’s young and has left his friends there,” she says.
However, Danylo is calm, or at least that is what he conveys. It is he who is fluent in English and who has become Natalia’s great support. “I am in direct contact with my father through my cell phone,” who tells them that “everything is fine” and that calms them down, despite the “uncertainty,” he adds. “We also read a lot of fake news, which doesn’t help, and you think all the time why did this happen, why did this happen to us?” he says. The day before Russian troops invaded Ukraine, the teenager joked with his grandfather as they ate dinner. “And suddenly all this,” he laments. It was his father who decided that both he and his mother should leave the country to which he hopes “to return sooner rather than later.”
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.