A Ukrainian refugee couple living in Donegal say they want to find work because they consider it their duty “not to be useless”.
Олег Подлесный and his partner Karina fled their home city of Odessa on March 4, a week after the Russian invasion.
They travelled through Moldova, Romania and Germany before catching flights to Ireland.
Now living in the Bluestack Centre Hostel near Donegal Town, 25-year-old Олег and 19-year-old Karina are looking for work as they do not want to be a burden on the state.
Both previously worked in retail. But he says they are prepared to take any job offered to them, part-time or full-time.
“Of course we want to work. I consider it our duty not to be useless but to bring help to the state through paying our taxes. W do not want to sit and wait for everything to be given to us, we are not used to sitting idle.”
Getting to Ireland was a “long and difficult journey” according to Олег.
“We lived in Odessa and we had to get away from the nightmare that had developed all around us.
“First we got across the border to Moldova and after spending a short period there we arrived in Romania. There we found train tickets to Germany and from Munich we were able to fly to Ireland.”
The couple say they have lost everything and are grateful for the help shown to them by every person they have met since arriving in Ireland. And despite their limited English, they are determined to repay that kindness.
“In our country where we lived and grew up there is a full-scale war now where innocent people are suffering. A rocket hit a residential building 800 metres from our house, it killed a family with a three-month-old baby.
“We feel deep regret and pain but we didn’t want war, we always lived quiet lives and had little or no idea of what war was.
“Now everyday we wait for good news, but unfortunately there is none,” Олег added.
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