Family finds peace on northern Sunshine Coast

After years and months of being on the move, fleeing their home country of Ukraine due to the Russian invasion three years ago, Mila and Eugene Kolpakova, and now, their young son Steven, have decided to call qathet home.

Attack begins

On February 24, 2022, the world watched in shock as Russian forces bombarded cities and towns as normal life for Ukrainians came to a halt. Mila was seven months pregnant at the time and hundreds of kilometres north in Kharkiv, at a maternity hospital, far from her home in Odessa, also spelled Odesa, a cosmopolitan city located on the Black Sea.

"It was my last night in Kharkiv; the next day I was supposed to catch a train back to Odessa," said Mila. "At four or five o'clock in the morning, I heard a big splash but didn't know what was going on so I called my husband."

Eugene was working at his job as a mariner at the time, on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea, which he says was lucky, since if he had been in Ukraine when the invasion happened, he would have been forced to join the Ukraine army to fight the Russian invasion. 

"The attack happened at night and nobody knew what the reality was yet," said Eugene.

City goes dark

Mila said when she went to the train station she could see people were panicking, no one was able to withdraw money from ATMs due to a freeze on the system.

"I tried not to panic; all I knew was that I needed to get on the train and get home," said Mila. "That's as far as my thinking went."

With the train delayed, all the shops and cafes closed and being February, it was very cold and people were stuck in minus-15 degree weather, waiting and worried.

While most Canadians and people around the world were shocked by the unprovoked attack by Russia that continues to escalate two-plus years later, Eugene said that they couldn't believe it, and thought maybe it would only last a couple days.

"I kept working but I couldn't sleep for at least 10 days," added Eugene.

The couple's apartment in Odessa was on the 18th floor. With constant evacuations to bomb shelters due to air raids, but no elevator, Mila, at seven months pregnant, and everyone else, had to go up and down the stairs constantly. 

On the move

Mila said sometimes there were no lights and all the grocery stores closed, so she decided to pack her bags, fill up on the limited gas available and drive to Spain.

"They [authorities] were letting only 20-litres per person, so we [Mila and her mother] cruised around to all the gas stations to get as much as possible," said Mila. "For the first 24 hours of the war, every man, woman and child was allowed to cross the border."

However, Eugene said that rule changed quickly and soon authorities wouldn't allow men aged 17 to 65 to leave the country, because they were conscripted to fight in the war. His cousin is dead now after being forced into the army to fight on the front line; he was hit by a rocket.

Mila stayed in Moldova for one week and then her mom joined her, then they made their way to Spain.

"Mila drove 3,500 kilometres across Europe to Spain, " said Eugene. "While I was still working, Mila found an apartment and got set up with appliances and furniture.

"We don't want to go back to Ukraine because even if [war] will be over, the country itself will be healing for maybe 20 years, because everything is destroyed. Of course we love our home but it's not a safe country, and not a stable country."

Emergency travel to Canada

Since Eugene is a seasoned mariner, he tried to immigrate to Canada for work in 2014. After taking exams and filling out paperwork, he was denied. After the war broke out in 2022, the Canadian government created Canada/Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, a temporary travel visa program for Ukrainian nationals and their families that allowed for travel, study and work in Canada for up to three years. 

"We first went to Toronto, but we saw some videos on YouTube about Vancouver or British Columbia," said Mila. "We thought the climate would be nicer [in Vancouver] and we wanted to be near the ocean."

Mariner finds work on Sunshine Coast

Eugene found out about BC Ferries and applied to be a deckhand and landed an interview, so the couple headed to the west coast. They ended up renting with a family in Gibsons. Mila said they became like their aunt and uncle.

The couple ended up making Ukrainian dumplings and other traditional foods for their hosts in Gibsons, who were so impressed with how the food tasted, they encouraged the couple to start a business.

"I saw a job posting for [BC Ferries] Saltery Bay," said Eugene. "We decided to check out Powell River to see if we might like it, and we did."

Building a life in qathet

After settling in and finding an apartment, they started to think more seriously about starting a business.

"I was taught to make Ukrainian perogies and pelmeni [another type of dumpling] by my brother, who was taught by my grandma," said Mila. "We were able to get FoodSafe certified and now we can sell frozen foods and fresh-made foods at the farmers' market."

Starting a business

The business, called Family Food Pierogi and Pelmeni, has been a big hit with folks in qathet.

"We love Canada and we love that we can be proud of our Ukraine heritage here," said Eugene. "Everyone has been so welcoming and we plan to stay long term."

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