Speaking in Dayton on a cold, winter evening, Osadcyi recalls the optimism that followed the fall of the USSR and struggles to compare it to the pain his homeland is experiencing today.
“At the time, we never imagined things would be this way.”
Osadcyi’s life changed the moment the first missiles hit Odesa. He would, like so many of his countrymen, go from a civilian to a soldier within hours.
Monday marks the three year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For people like Osadcyi, it finds them far from the home they dream of returning to.
Prelude to war
As far as Osadcyi is concerned, it’s a mistake to say the war began three years ago. His compatriots, husband and wife Sergei Chernyshev and Yuliia Chernysheva, who help translate, agree. For him, the nightmare began in 2014.
“At the time the conflict in Crimea began, I was on a business trip in Africa.” Osadcyi said. “As soon as I heard what was happening I returned to Odesa and immediately enlisted in the armed forces.”
Osadcyi would not be called to active duty — yet. Despite news of casualties and a heightened tension between the two countries, the conflict did not escalate into war. But the violence marked a turning point in the way they viewed their neighbors.
“Before Crimea, I used to do musical shows in Russia,” Osadcyi said. “The last one was in 2012.”
Life slowly returned to normal. Until Feb. 24, 2022.
“We were hit multiple times,” Osadcyi said. “My first instinct was to close my business activities and make sure everyone was paid. By the end of that first day I was at the recruitment center enlisting in the Marines. By the end of the second, I had experienced combat for the first time.”
It takes a moment for him to describe those first few hours of combat.
“If anyone tells you they weren’t scared the first time they were on the frontlines they are lying. The worst thing was speaking to a fellow soldier one moment and the next time you look at them they are dead. I saw that happen. You can’t imagine what that does to your mind. I saw men go mad in the middle of battle.”
What kept Osadcyi sane was his family. His youngest child was two at the time. He credits his loved ones with seeing him through multiple concussions and heart problems.
What Osadcyi and his fellow soldiers may not have realized at the time was that their sacrifice was buying valuable time to people fleeing for their lives. People like Svetlana Smirnova.
Searching for safety
As Ukraine was hit from multiple fronts that day, closer to Kiev, in the city of Bila Tskerkva, a mother would watch her family splinter apart.
“We have so much shared history and culture with our neighbors,” Smirnova said. “A lot of Ukrainians live in Russia and many Russians live in Ukraine, so we didn’t expect that they could do this to our country. Half of my relatives live in Russia. I used to travel there to visit all the time but now I don’t have that in my heart anymore.”
Smirnova described what it was like at the time of the initial attack.
“Some people said that war could start but no one believed it,” Smirnova said. “But that morning, at 4 a.m., the missiles began to fall. The noise of explosions woke me up. The next night we left.”
Smirnova shared the story of her family’s journey on the second floor of Dayton’s Gem City Catfe. Her compatriot, Nataliia Boiko, made the introductions and assisted with translation. The gentle coffeehouse jazz in the background stood in stark contrast to the harrowing description of the escape from her home.
With Ukraine’s airspace closed, a flight out of the country was impossible. Smirnova and her relatives would have no choice but to flee by land.
“Everyone was panicking, there was so much traffic,” Smirnova recalled.
Their group of four adults and two children were among hundreds of thousands making the same decision. According to them, their GPS wasn’t working properly and they wound up at the wrong border.
“It took us to an empty road near Belarus with abandoned cars everywhere,” Smirnova said. “Inside those cars were dead people just lying there. We wanted to call an ambulance for help, maybe someone was alive. But my mother-in-law said no, we had to go and put the children first.”
Not wanting to scare them, Smirnova and the other adults told the children on the long road to the Polish border that they were “on an adventure.” But once in Poland, fear that the conflict would spread forced them to leave again. By June, 2023, they were in the U.S.
“We didn’t have plans,” Smirnova explained. “We thought if we had documents that let us stay two years then we would stay two years. The most important thing was that we were safe.”
Adjusting to a different country, language, and way of life took time.
“Before, all the sounds used to make me worry. But now I have adjusted and feel safe here,” Smirnova said.
Stuck overseas
The Chernyshevs would faced their own difficult journey. As husband and wife, Sergei and Yuliia have stuck together despite countless challenges and uncertainty.
“Where I’m from, Kharkiv, is known as the city of students. Unfortunately, it has suffered greatly and continues to suffer from this war. But before that we had 26 universities, a million people, and a 20% student population. Can you imagine?” Sergei beams when talking about his native city.
At the time of the 2022 invasion, he was in Latin America setting up a new branch office for his company.
“After some time we were contacted by the consulate and told we’d been approved to come to the U.S. But to get the visa we had to first travel to Frankfurt, because the office that handled Ukrainian affairs in Latin America had closed,” Sergei said.
Finally, they arrived in America. An old work colleague in Centerville recommended they come to the area. According to Sergei’s friend, it was a great place to live: friendly, and full of opportunity.
“We came here and found out everything he said about Dayton was really, really true,” Sergei said.
From the frontlines to Dayton
A heart attack ultimately removed Osadcyi from the war. He received a medical discharge and a chance to receive treatment in the U.S.
“People were so welcoming and warm-hearted,” Osadcyi said. “We would get support from other Ukrainian veterans, Americans marines, and our neighbors. Now they are all like a second family. I feel so welcome and from the moment we landed people have really embraced us.”
Osadcyi credits doctors in Dayton with saving his life after his heart condition worsened. He is happy to see how much America and Ukraine have in common.
“Just as Americans are open, kind, and warm, we Ukrainians are, too,” he said. “If ever America is in crisis, all Americans come together. We are the same.”
“Yes, in times of peace we sometimes bicker amongst ourselves. But when our country is threatened we all stand together, no matter who is president or which party is in power. It doesn’t matter where we come from, if you support Ukraine then we are united.”
Citizens of the world
“Our son just got accepted to college and is going through that process. I hope we can stay here and continue to build our lives in America,” Yuliia says proudly.
Yuliia is going to Sinclair Community College and hopes to graduate with a degree in Computer Science. Sergei works as a project manager for a local company. Boiko found work as a resource coordinator at Ebenezer Healthcare Access and also attends Sinclair, where she received a Spectrum Award in 2023 from the English Department in the Outstanding ELL Student category. In addition to working in construction, Osadcyi still writes music. Just like in Ukraine, Smirnova continues to take care of her family.
And all of them said they still dream of home.
“I dream of being able to return home without having to worry about bombs falling. That there would be no more air raid sirens, that I could travel across Ukraine like I used to and see the cities and people without danger,” Sergei said.
Like her husband, Yuliia yearns for the chance to see their family again.
“Both of our mothers are there in Zaporizhia and we would love to go back and see them and the rest of our loved ones.”
Osadcyi hopes to establish education centers in America and Ukraine to help both nations learn more about each other. Until then, he hopes people around the world realize just how much they have in common with the Ukrainians they see on TV.
“I want the world to know the soul of Ukraine, that we are kind, warm people. We are open, love freedom, and just want to be the masters of our lives,” he said.
Ukraine is more than a war-torn country or a long-running conflict, Osadcyi said. It is a land of culture, accepting of Christians, Jews and Muslims. Regardless of what happens in Washington D.C., it is the soul of Ukraine he hopes to share with the next generation.
“My hope is to return to Ukraine hopefully sooner rather than later, to raise my son there, pass on our culture, language, and way of life to him, and to ultimately be buried there.”
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