Many Ukrainians, escaping the war, have found a home in Palm Coast, Flagler County

Yaroslav and Natalia Kuzevych built a new life in Palm Coast after fleeing the danger in Ukraine which continues to battle a Russian invasion.

And a big part of their new life is the couple's new American citizen: Artem, a boy born in the United States.

“We are happy that he is safe, and that he was born in a free country,” Yaroslav Kuzevych said through an interpreter.

The family is among an influx of Ukrainians who have arrived in Flagler County since Feb. 24, 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a war that has killed hundreds of thousands and destroyed Ukrainian cities and towns. The fighting continues with Russia occupying a large part of Eastern Ukraine and trying to take more territory.

But far from the war, Ukrainians say they have found a welcoming and helpful community in Flagler County.

The arrival of Ukrainians is reflected in numbers from the Flagler County School District, which counted 68 Ukrainian students during the 2023-24 school year. All of those students enrolled after the start of the war, according to the district.

Flagler Technical College, which is in Palm Coast and is part of the county's school district, has seen a "huge" increase in the past two years in enrollment in classes for English as a second language because of Ukrainian refugees , Chris McDermott, the college's assistant director, said in a story earlier this year.

The U.S. Census also shows an increase in Ukrainians living in Flagler County since the war started. According to the census, 1,112 Ukrainian lived in Flagler County in 2022. The census counted 281 Ukrainian residents in Flagler County in 2021.

New U.S. citizen

The Kuzevych family was living in western Ukraine with their two sons, Liubomyr and Matviy, 17 and 12, when Russia invaded in February 2022. The family arrived in Flagler County Feb. 7, 2023. Once they arrived in the U.S., they welcomed Artem.

“We are thankful of Ukrainians and Americans here in the community for making our lives much easier than it would be on our own,” said Yaroslav Kuzevych, 43.

He said the family is getting used to life in the United States. He was a truck driver in Ukraine but he wants to stay close to home in the United States. Instead, he is working in construction.

But the family has experienced some of the hostility that has spread from a half a world away. They recounted an interaction involving a child of Russian heritage living in Flagler. Residents from Russia have been living in Palm Coast and Flagler County long before the war started.

The Kuzevychs said one of their sons was in an English class at an American church when a Russian boy made a hateful remark about Ukrainians. The Russian parents later told the school’s administrator that their son would not make such a comment, the family said.

Another Palm Coast couple arrived in 2023. Liudmyla and Yuri Petrovets have seven children: Dmytro, 15; Viktoria, 14; Olga, 12; Oleksandr, 10; Mykolay, 9; Natalia, 8; and Vitaliy, 6.

She said they had been living in northern Ukraine near the border of Belarus, a close Russian ally.

“There was still a big danger. They can reenter anytime. So that's why we decided to move here,” Liudmyla said through the interpreter.

She said the seven children are in school and have made American friends. The younger ones are learning English faster than the older ones.

“For the older kids, it’s a little bit harder,” she said.

Liudmyla said they are doing well academically as they were doing well in Ukraine before leaving. The children have an interest in music, and one of the girls is taking piano lessons.

“Boys really like to learn guitar,” she said through the interpreter. "But they can’t afford a guitar or the lessons.”

Extending a friendly hand from Flagler County

Nadia and Warren Wolfe are among Flagler residents coordinating the effort to help many of those new arrivals.

The couple lives just south of Marineland. She was born in Ukraine but has been living in the United States for 29 years. He was born in the United States and is a former U.S. Navy submariner.

To help Ukrainians, they reached out to their large circle of friends. And people responded. Donations started arriving, including furniture as well as cash. The first Christmas, they collected presents for about 40 Ukrainian children.

Nadia Wolfe bought a boxing-type doll and a neighbor put a picture of Putin on it. Then they accepted donations for people to punch the doll.

“One dollar donation for every slap and they got a couple thousand dollars,” she said.

But donations have slowed down though, the Wolfes said.

“Everybody in America, they have big hearts, but they have their own choices of you know, giving donations. So, they still give us something, but it's harder and harder and needs are growing and growing,” Nadia Wolfe said.

The Ukrainian Project

The interpreter, Roxie Cisyk, is a director of the Ukrainian Project, a nonprofit that helps both Ukrainian residents in Flagler County and Ukrainians on the frontlines. The project gives clothing and furniture donations to families in need and raises money to help Ukrainians.

"I think that’s important," Cisyk said. "It doesn’t go into big nonprofits. It goes directly to people on the front lines."

She said the money helps soldiers buy gas or tourniquets or, when closing for the summer, they ask for T-shirts and for winter thermal clothing.

Cisyk visited International Foods in Flagler Beach earlier this year to present its owners, Ludmyla and Volodymyr Slobodkin, with a certificate in recognition of their work raising money to help Ukrainians. The couple have a donation box in their store to collect money for Ukraine.

Of the certificate, Ludmyla Slobodkin said through an interpreter “It’s very touching."

“Everybody chips in and then we help somebody,” she added.

She said she has family still in Ukraine, including her 74-year-old sister in Kharkiv.

To contact the Ukrainian Project, call 321-300-4065 or visit ukrainianfestivalorlando.org .

Praying for Peace

The Rev. Fr. Vladimir Kaydanov of St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church in Bunnell is praying for peace. He said the church has about 40 regular members. He has some mixed marriages, including Ukrainians or people who have family in Ukraine. He has some American-born orthodox worshippers and some from Russia and some from Kazakhstan.

The church conducts half its service in Slavonic, an old Russian language traditionally used in services, and half in English.

He said all are welcome at the church.

“We don’t have a national identity or any kind of political identity. That’s not our parish or our mission.”

He said he had not seen or heard of any violence or animosity between Russians and Ukrainians in Flagler County.

“Our prayers are for peace and end of wars,” he said.

While Flagler County is far from the war, the tension stretches across the world.

“We are on somewhat neutral ground, but it’s difficult to separate people’s lives from what’s going on back home,” Kaydanov said.

Many more Ukrainians have moved to Flagler County

Andrii Larin said he opened The Pierogi Shop at 300 S. Central Ave. Unit 105 in Flagler Beach, to sell what he described as Ukrainian comfort food, like pierogi, soups and dumplings. It is in the same shopping center as International Foods.

“It’s all Grandma’s recipes. She’s the chef,” Laran said.

Larin, 36, has lived in Flagler County for seven years, first in Flagler Beach and now in Palm Coast.

He said many more Ukrainians have moved to the area since the war started.

“Probably doubled or tripled because everybody brought somebody,” Larin said.

Larin said his parents are still in Ukraine as well as other family members.

“I support as much as I can, you know, donate very heavy,” he said. “Not much you can do from here you know, even if you send money. But it's not about money at this point. They actually need the weapons to kick Russians out of the country.”

“They made their living there and it's their country” he said.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Many Ukrainians, escaping the war, have found a home in Palm Coast, Flagler County