INDIANAPOLIS — Ukraine is 5,200 miles from Indianapolis, but to Barbara Paturel, it feels much closer.
Paturel lived in Ukraine for three years in the late 90s and worked at a missionary treating addiction with her late husband, Wayne.
She says she still feels a connection to the country.
“Those people are just so very precious, and even after all of these years being back in the states, my heart still hurts for them a lot,” she said. “We just fell in love with [the Ukrainian people]. They would invite us into their home for dinner and you would have thought we were a king and a queen,” she remembers.
Brittany Swanson also went on mission trips to Ukraine. She taught English there in 2018 and returned the next year. She forged friendships with Ukrainians still in the country.
MORE | Hoosiers with connections to Ukraine watch Russian invasion from afar
“They are just trying to cling to their faith and pray that God will protect them and keep them,” Swanson said. “They're fearful, but they're hopeful. There's just something about them, they're so strong, they're resilient.”
Paturel has been able to get in touch with her friends, but communication is limited.
“They haven’t been on social media much. I think they’re afraid to say anything,” Paturel said of her friends.
The two women are watching the Russian invasion in horror, worried about the loved ones still within the war-torn country.
MORE | Indiana University students peacefully protest Russian attacks on Ukraine
“It's just really hard to see all these different attacks. I hoped it would never happen, and I really did not expect for it to be this volume,” says Swanson. “These people are just like you and me, wanting to live a good life and be happy.”
“Why would you hurt and kill people who have done nothing to you? What is the purpose of going into a country and destroying people who, to me, seem innocent?” said Paturel.
Although Paturel feels helpless with an ocean between herself and the troubles in Europe, she believes there is some help we can all send that is never hindered by distance.
“Pray for the Ukrainian people, pray for the government, pray for the violence to stop," she said.
-
Two arrested in connection with fatal hit-and-run crash on Indy's west side
A person has died following a crash in the 400 block of N. Lynhurst Drive on Indianapolis' west side Thursday morning.
"Very thorough" investigation underway into crash that killed deputy
A “lengthy and very thorough investigation” is underway into the November 12 crash that killed Delaware County Corporal Blake Reynolds.
ILEA takes public input ahead of final recommendation next week
The city-led body is tasked with developing recommendations on school facilities, transportation, governance and efficiency for public and charter schools.
Monroe County planning to evict homeless camp on December 15
Dozens of homeless Bloomingtonians have found refuge in the woods near Switchyard Park, but Monroe County may soon force them out of their living situation while temperatures are below freezing.
