Ukrainians fleeing Russian invasion arrive in Edmonton on aid flight

Valentina Gvozd stepped into the arrivals gate at the Edmonton International Airport clutching a small bouquet of yellow sunflowers, her two young sons at her side.

Gvozd and her children, and about 60 other Ukrainian nationals, were on a flight that arrived in Edmonton Monday night — refugees fleeing war as Russia's invasion of Ukraine heads into its fifth week.

While accurate numbers are hard to gather from an active war zone, the war has killed more than 1,000 civilians and injured another 1,800, according to the United Nations this week.

More than 10 million Ukrainians — one-quarter of the country's population — have been driven from their homes, including almost four million who have fled the country.

Gvozd and her sons Bogdan, 9, and Artem, 6, will be staying with her brother-in-law, Andrii Nabutovskyi, in Red Deer, Alta.

Speaking in Ukrainian, Gvozd said she felt gratitude and relief as she stepped off the plane, following a difficult journey from Ukraine. 

"First impressions are that you are welcoming us so graciously. We are here for the very first time," she said.

"What can I say? I am very grateful that you are accepting us. [As] Ukrainians, we thank you sincerely."

Not long ago, Gvozd's life in the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy was quiet. She worked as an accountant. Her boys went to school.

Then the Russian military invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.

"They were just regular kids going to school every day like every ordinary Ukrainian family," Nabutovskyi said of Gvozd's sons.

"And on that horrible day, war started and they spent a lot of time in the basement because you never know when an artillery charge will come and might end your life right there. 

"It's hard, because you think the war is going to end in a couple of days … but it never did." 

As sounds of nearby explosions grew louder, Gvozd made the decision to leave her home. She packed a few belongings into her car and drove her sons across the border into Poland, eventually finding her way to Warsaw.