The 16-year-old, along with her mum Olena and younger brother Dima is among 4,500 displaced Ukrainians facing Christmas without their husbands, brothers, fathers and sons still fighting in the war.
for more than two weeks.
The family fled the south of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on a humanitarian visa two weeks after war broke out in March to live with Olena's twin sister Luidmyla "Luda" who has called Queensland home for more than a decade."My husband and I speak every day — 20 times a day sometimes on the phone or through FaceTime — about our day, our plans and the kids," she said.
This means many of the 4,500 displaced Ukrainians living safely in Australia have left sons, husbands and grandfathers to either fight or support the war effort.Tears fall from Olena's cheeks, as she speaks of the dangerous work her husband Oleksandr "Sasha" does every day delivering good to the front line.
"We were thinking it would be a little holiday, some time off, because we expected the war will finish in two weeks' time or even less.From left: Yulia Kovalev , Olena Kozlovets , Dima Kozlovets , Alina Kozlovets and Luda Kovalev. The war taught Ukranian people "to say the most important words," she said as her eyes filled with tears."My dad is my best friend, every evening we FaceTime, it's like a tradition. We miss him so much."Alina said it was "impossible" to feel happy during the festive season with all that is happening in Ukraine.
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