Edmonton-area woman reunites with mother who fled Ukraine

There was an emotional moment at the Edmonton International Airport Monday night, as a local woman reunited with her mother from Ukraine.

Olga Renneberg has been helpless, fearing for her mother’s safety back in Ukraine since Russia first invaded the country nearly two weeks ago.

Renneberg’s mother, Liudmyla Volovyk, was in the city of Kyiv at the time. Fearing for her life, Volovyk was living in an underground bomb shelter, but decided to escape the city amid ongoing Russian attacks and headed west toward Poland.

Renneberg said her mother was travelling alone, at night. Days later, Volovyk eventually made it to the western Ukraine city of Lviv before crossing the border into Poland.

Volovyk boarded a plane to Canada and touched down in Edmonton late Monday night.

The pair embraced in a long, tearful hug as they reunited for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic began.

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“I know she is here, she will be settling, taking care of grandkids. She is with the people who love her,” said Renneberg, who is from Ukraine but now lives near Edmonton.

Renneberg still has other family and friends in Ukraine that she worries about. For now, she feels relief knowing her mother is safe.

“Now I have one person less to worry about. Just knowing that she’s here safe and I could focus on other things, like helping whatever I could help from myself.”

Last week, the Canadian government announced it would allow Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression to come to Canada temporarily for a period of two years.

— with files from Sarah Komadina, Global News.