A mother and her son are the latest Ukrainians to arrive to the area.
Elena Gonchorova and her son Denys made it safely to the Sault late Wednesday night after travelling by bus from Toronto.
While the 11-hour bus ride from southern Ontario was long, their journey in moving to Canada was much lengthier – one that stretched over three months as they waited in Europe for their visas.
The two fled their war-torn country on Mar. 25, and they stayed in Romania and Germany before flying to Toronto last week.
Elena and Denys, 43 and 25 years old respectively, are from Kharkiv; Ukraine’s second largest city and situated just 30 kilometres from the Russian border.
Their home is making current headlines as Russia has upped its assault on Kharkiv with bombardments and attacks that have left several people dead and many injured.
Denys says they witnessed a lot of upsetting events before they fled at the end of March.
“We saw lots of bombings,” he says. “The apartment buildings were all damaged.”
Elena's mother and three aunts are still in Ukraine and living in occupied territory.
Denys says he has lots of friends who have stayed back as well.
Despite their hardships, the mother and son are incredibly thankful to be in Canada.
“It’s a beautiful country,” Denys says. “Lots of great people.”
The two visited Helping Hands on Thursday to pick out some clothing and household items to take back to their new home in Echo Bay, which Denys is delighted with so far. The two will be staying with Heather Clouston-Goslow in Echo Bay, who was unavailable for an interview.
“It’s a big house,” he says. “There’s lots of pets. I’m happy.”
Lighthouse Church in Blind River has raised over $5,000 for the newcomers, and pastor Carl Moulton has job interviews lined up for them as well.
Meanwhile, another Ukrainian family that arrived in the Sault at the end of May has settled in nicely.
Dmytro Pustova, his son Aleksandr and wife Iryna, who faced a months-long journey of their own before coming to Canada, has extended their intentions to help Elena and Denys any way they can.